In the Deepest Darkness - Etrian Odyssey II Untold: The Fafnir Knight
by TheGreatPikminZX789
Summary: The Gungnir Guild had just defeated the labyrinth's most dangerous creature and had just entered town. Before the guild can settle on their hard earned victory, a Ronin runs past them in order to get deeper into Lagaard. Although explorers running around at night wasn't unusual, something felt off about the Ronin more than just his appearance...
1. Chapter 1: A Dangerous Fear

"Another day in the labyrinth completed... God, that Ur-Child was such a pain in the ass to fight." _Flavio complained, feeling incredibly worn out after the guild had defeated the strongest monster in the labyrinth. Fafnir turned to his best friend and patted his shoulder._

"No kidding... Seems like the Overlord had his reasons for sealing it away while he did." _Fafnir admitted, scratching the back of his head with his free hand._

"Regardless, now that the damned thing is dead, and we can relax for the night. Right Arianna?" _Chloe asked the Sovereign, as she nodded her head an clasped her hands together._

"Yes, exactly. We also need to replenish our supplies for our next trip into the labyrinth, so I'm kinda glad we managed to defeat the Ur-Child at a reasonable time."

"Agreed. But first, let's head back to the inn and-"

"Pardon me!"

"Huh-?!"

"Wha?!"

 _A male Ronin accidentally bumped into the Highlander and Fafnir Knight, as he continued to move forward, running at a pace Korey thought he would not see from a worried explorer._ "...The fuck? Was that a Ronin just now?" Korey inquired, scratching his head as he had to wonder why the Ronin had ran past them.

"It almost looked like he was in a rush. Or he was likely fleeing from something. Either way, someone's gotta check up on him." _Bertrand continued, looking at Fafnir, silently asking him what they should do. Fafnir seemed to understood him and faced where the Ronin went._

"Korey, you and I will ask the Ronin. Everyone else can wait here. Better make sure we don't overwhelm him with out numbers." _Fafnir announced, as the Highlander nodded._

"Alright, we'll be right back." _The brown haired Highlander addressed, as Fafnir and Korey ran in the direction the Ronin went. Although they've been through Lagaard many times before, trying to think of where he could have went was quite a different story._

 _They eventually found him, resting near the stairs to the bar. When the Ronin heard footsteps, he quickly took out his weapon and pointed at the duo who was approaching him._ "Don't come any fucking closer!"

 _The knight and highlander stopped where they were. Korey noticed that the Ronin had taken severe damage, thankfully, wasn't to the point where he was bleeding, but it was quite obvious just from looking at him._ "You're injured, aren't you?"

 _The Ronin's expression changed when Korey asked him. He thought it wouldn't be obvious if he ran faster, but he was quite breathless from the running he did. The Ronin tried to open his mouth to ask them a question, but the Highlander seemed to respond faster than he can ask._

"I'm Korey, and this is Fafnir, the leader of the Gungnir Guild. We saw you run by us just now, and we wanted to make sure you were alright..." _Gungnir Guild... Weren't they the ones who took down that mechanical being in Heaven's Keep?_

 _The Ronin lowered his weapon, laying back against the wall behind him._ "Is it alright for us to come closer?" _Fafnir inquired._

"...Yes."

 _Gaining the Ronin's trust, the knight and highlander approached him to look at his injuries._ "...The name's Shen, by the way. Lynus has told me about the two of you before. I apologize for not recognizing you by name." _He uttered, just enough that Korey and Fafnir would hear._

"It's fine, Shen. Though may I ask, how did you receive these injuries? These don't look recognizable from any FOEs we've encountered."

 _Shen looked at the Fafnir Knight, who had inquired him._ "I've... uh, how do I explain this..." _He started, trying to find the right words. The silence between the three of them was understandable, as Korey nor Fafnir wanted to rush the Ronin on his words._

"...Have you ever found that there was more to the labyrinth than just the thirtieth floor?"

 _More than just the thirtieth floor...? That was honestly baffling to both Korey and Fafnir. What did he even mean by that?_

"I don't recall hearing anything of the sort, cause we were fighting Ur-Child just a couple of hours ago..." _Korey replied, as Fafnir concurred with the Highlander. There was no possible way they would've missed stairs to this new floor Shen was speaking of._

"Well, there were rumors that there is a thirty-first floor that has no monsters whatsoever. Just a bunch of mysterious F.O.E's that move randomly." _Shen articulated, getting surprised looks from the Knight and Highlander._

"No normal enemies? A floor literally filled with only random moving F.O.E's already sounds problematic, but the fact that there's no normal enemies is very worrying... How is such a thing even possible?" _Fafnir was rather perplexed by this as much as Shen and Korey was._

"Exactly what I wonder, as well. But, when I was entering the final room, I found something that I would only describe as... pure malice and darkness. Here."

 _The Ronin took out a piece of paper and handed it to the Highlander, who motioned Fafnir to come look at it with him. Unfolding the huge amount of paper that was folded, something on the paper caused Fafnir and Korey to freeze in place. There, on the large sheet of taped paper..._

 _...Well, how can he even describe it? It was still just a sketch, yet Shen managed to capture the image of what was residing within that floor, despite it showing signs of being drawn in a rush. Colored as well, despite the map making tools having a limited color palette._

"Wha-what even is this thing...? The ultimate evolution of the Ruler of Heaven?"

"The power of ruin and reckoning?"

 _Korey and Fafnir were honestly perplexed by the sheer fact that it looks so indescribable, and the sketch was not helping matters. Folding the paper away, Korey uttered to the Ronin before him._ "Could it be connected to the Overlord's creations, somehow?"

"It could be, but I can't confirm this, as you guys dealt with him on your trip through Yggdrasil... And though I'm not sure what it's officially called, I decided to give it the name 'Ur-Devil'."

 _Silence befell the Knight and Highlander. This was truly some heavy news that Shen was dropping on them. Mere words weren't enough to describe the anger and confusion both Fafnir and Korey had been building up within them._

"So you're telling me that the Ur-Child, the one we have defeated, was not enough for the Overlord, and he decided to make another one?!" _Shen simply shrugged in response to the Highlander's question. After all, the Overlord was dead, so it was kinda too late to ask him in person._

"Even then, that... _thing_ , is too dangerous to let it live. But it's too powerful to battle it. It seems to be contained within that floor, but for how long? It might eventually break out, and just my guild alone might not survive the fight against it, and-"

 _Shen was stopped mid-sentence by Fafnir placing his hand on the Ronin's shoulder. He looked at the Fafnir Knight with worry on his face, something he hadn't had in some time. Fafnir took a deep breath, and decided that now was not the time to panic and question things._

"Relax, Shen. If we have faced the Ur-Child, we will be capable of defeating this Ur-Devil. But we'll require twice the preparation from when we entered to fight Ur-Child. Perhaps you can fight alongside us to ensure your guild's safety."

 _Fighting alongside the Gungnir Guild? Without his fellow guildmates? Shen only got more worried when Fafnir even mentioned that they will fight it, regardless of his warnings._

"F-Fafnir, are you sure about this? This Ur-Devil seems like it'd be an even tougher opponent than the Ur-Child! Are you really sure-"

"Yes, I'm sure. We may lose our lives, but the protection of Lagaard- no, the world, is what we're striving for. If we don't stop it, no one in the world may be capable of standing up to it. Isn't that right, Highlander?"

 _Both Fafnir and Shen looked towards the Highlander, who had been lost in thought for a bit before noticing that he was the center of attention. Regardless, Korey knew a threat as big as that must be eradicated, no matter how long it takes..._

"...Yes. Where I came from, my Yggdrasil had a very similar threat that was willing to cause massive chaos to my world, and potentially more worlds had I fallen in battle against it. This Ur-Devil... Although it brings back painful similarities to the foe I despise, it must not be allowed to live. You even said it yourself, Shen. I'm willing to sacrifice everything to protect the world I love so much."

 _He couldn't believe it. Even though he had literally met the greatest known warriors in the Gungnir Guild, being asked to defeat the very foe that brought him into this predicament. It was weird, but if he had declined it, and his guild would find the very same floor he investigated..._

"Korey... Fafnir..."

 _Shen fell silent again, giving some thought to his next move. Surely, he will be working along with the two famous warriors of the Gungnir Guild, but would he really risk it all? Was he really willing to die to protect those he cared and loved for...?_

"...Alright, if you insist. We will prepare for it within a few days. I'll let you know when I am ready."

 _Korey and Fafnir couldn't hold back a smile, relieved that they'll be working together to defeat the Ur-Devil._ "Thanks, Shen. Now, why don't you see Lynus about those injuries?"

 _Oh yeah. He was so busy conversing with the two that he had forgotten his own injuries. Didn't help that it still hurt as he pushed himself away from the wall, but pain was better than bleeding out where he stood in that floor he mentioned._

"...Fine. I suppose I'll see you later then." _Shen breathed, as he began walking to the inn._

"Hey Shen..."

 _The Ronin looked back, as the Highlander continued to speak._ "Make sure your guild doesn't know about the Ur-Devil. Wouldn't want them to risk their lives trying to defeat it. The less casualties, the better."

 _Not tell his own guildmates...? He already navigated the floor, and mapped it out of sheer safety, but... No, Korey was right. Better to have less casualties than having an entire guild wiped from history._

"That... is going to be very hard to do, but I'll try." Shen responded, continuing to make his way back to the inn.

"Man, things just keep piling up, don't they? This Ur-Devil seems like it won't stop til all of Lagaard knows its name." _Fafnir sighed, scratching his head. Korey turned to face Fafnir, as he sighed as well._

"No kidding... And I thought the Yggdrasil Core would've been the most concerning of all things, much less, Ur-Child. But regardless, now that we know what happened, let's head back to our guild."

 _Fafnir nodded, as they wasted no time in running back to their guild, who had been chatting among themselves, until Arianna turned around and saw them return._

"Sir Fafnir, Sir Korey, you're back. How was the Ronin? Did you find out what happened to him?"

"Well you see..." _Fafnir started, as he and Korey alternated sharing what they were told by Shen to the Guild. Korey even took out the piece of paper he got from Shen and unfolded it, showing it to the rest of the guild. Everyone was surprised at what its appearance, despite being sketched in a rush._

"So you mean to tell me, that the Overlord didn't make not one, not two, but THREE creations in an attempt at this 'eternal life' crap?" _Bertrand spoke up as soon as Fafnir and Korey ended their explanation. The Highlander could only nod his head in response._

"My thoughts exactly, Bertrand. It's quite ridiculous how the Overlord still manages to befuddle us, even after we defeated him." _Korey concurred, as he began to refold the paper once more._

"But, why? Why must there be something that's so dangerous that it has to be contained on a different floor...?" _Ricky inquired, despite her perplexed face._

"Perhaps it was just needed. After all, this Ur-Devil crap reeks of similarities to Ur-Child." _The War Magus attempted to answer the Millennium Girl's question._

"It must be... Though, we did manage to defeat his two previous creations, so I'm confident we can take out the Overlord's strongest creation." _Fafnir confidently spoke, until Flavio sighed in annoyance._

"I dunno, Fafnir... This feels like it's putting way too much pressure on us." _Flavio commented._

"Despite that pressure, we must press on. This will likely be our last mission together, so we must make it count by all means. Not just for us, or Shen, but for the world." _Arianna chimed in, as Ricky seemed to face Flavio as well._

"Arianna's right. Despite the difficulty we're faced with, ignoring it will only bring about the deaths of casual explorers who might get TOO curious about that floor. Just like the Yggdrasil Core back in Etria: we simply can't ignore the dangers it may put to the world if it does escape."

Korey didn't even WANT to imagine what would become of Lagaard and the world should Ur-Devil escape from it's containment. It's name literally reeks of 'ragnarok'. The end of the world. He took a deep breath, and a face of determination appeared on the Highlander's face.

"Alright... Fafnir, Ricky, Bertrand, Flavio, Chloe, Arianna, let's give it all we've got when we are prepared to face it in battle. We'll show this Ur-Devil who the greatest guild in all of Lagaard can really do, and we'll protect my homeland and the world!"

"Yes. We must do it for the world's sake. I'll stand by you til the very end, Korey." _Ricky's face beamed, despite the pressure of losing her life after a thousand years of sleep._

"Personally, I'm feeling rather nervous. But you guys are gonna need a Protector by your side. And I'll stick with you until the end." _Bertrand concurred, as he smirked at Korey and Fafnir._

"This doesn't feel right, and I won't lie when trying to face something we don't know feels disastrous... But we aren't gonna let it get to us. Count me in, Korey and Fafnir." _Flavio commented, despite being worried a few minutes earlier._

"Count Chloe in as well. Might as help somewhat with healing you guys." _Chloe declared._

"Sir Fafnir, Sir Korey, Sir Flavio, Sir Bertrand, Dame Chloe, and Dame Ricky... I will lend you my support to the best of my ability. Together, we'll end this devil and bring peace to the world!" _Arianna was the last one to give her support to the guild. And Fafnir couldn't be any prouder._

"Thanks, everyone... Let's head to the inn and prepare for that fateful day." _Fafnir declared, determined with their final mission in mind._

 _Followed by an 'okay' from everyone, the Gungnir Guild began to head back to the inn, their original destination before Shen diverged their attention. They had to be prepared for it, even if they may have some restless nights. But they couldn't let it overwhelm them before their fateful battle. It wouldn't be allowed._

 _Fear can be a dangerous enemy..._


	2. Chapter 2: Kept Secret From Them

_Lynus was looking over Shen's injuries the moment he entered the inn. Shen argued that his injuries were minor, but both Magnus and Lynus was quite concerned, so the two had carried him to his room to heal his injuries. Had he been bleeding, the hospital would've been more suitable, but even healing away the injuries was hard enough._

 _Of course, Lynus wasn't content with waiting around. He had to figure out how the Ronin obtained the injuries so he can properly tend his wounds. He grabbed the guild's monster codex and started to try and find which injuries led to what monster Shen 'must have' encountered. Magnus was helping Lynus as well. Two minds are better to reflect ideas off of than just one._

"Those injuries couldn't have come from a regular monster... It can't have been an F.O.E either..." _The orange haired medic uttered to himself while flipping through the pages of the codex, and Magnus caught wind of his small talk, looking at Lynus with concern._

"Yeah, but why come to that conclusion too soon? We haven't even find the monster responsible for his injuries!" _Although the Alchemist had a point, Lynus felt like there was something more to the puzzle than either a horde of monsters/F. that managed to do him in._

"Out of all the monsters inside the labyrinth, I don't think I've seen injuries that are quite as severe as what Shen had before. It certainly doesn't link up with any of the F. we have in our codex... And he did mention that he was bombarded with elemental attacks, so it can't be from any monsters that strictly uses physical attacks. Even so, all of the monsters in our codex don't even match what he described earlier to me."

 _Granted, while the Guardian Guild was behind on a few of the pages of their codex, it should've been concerning that at least one more monster would be hidden away. Closing the page of the codex, Lynus got up from his seat and looked to the Alchemist._ "Do you think we should ask Shen for the details?"

"Y-Yes. There's no reason why he should be hiding things from us." _Magnus immediately responded, quite concerned about Shen's condition, even when Lynus told him that Shen will be fully recovered soon. The duo arrived at the Ronin's room, with the Miracle Medic knocking on the door. After hearing a 'come in' from within the room, Lynus opened the door and entered in along with Magnus._

 _Thankfully, Shen hadn't moved from his position from his bed._ "Were you researching something, Lynus? Or did you forget something?"

 _Lynus sighed a bit, before pulling up a chair to the bed._ "I was just wondering; can you tell us about that creature you described? I'm afraid I don't have the information about it to know how to tend to most of the injuries aside from that."

 _If he wasn't worried enough as it is, the Ronin was definitely concerned. IF he was going to lie, he likely wouldn't do it to Lynus or Magnus. Because both of them would likely chase him to the ends of the Earth to find his answer._

 _"Make sure your guild doesn't know about the Ur-Devil. Wouldn't want them to risk their lives trying to defeat it. The less casualties, the better."_

 _The Highlander's words repeated in his head. Perhaps it's for the best that he- no... if he doesn't answer, it's likely to make them investigate the same floor he had investigated earlier this afternoon. He already made Magnus angry by the sheer fact that the Alchemist was the first one to notice his injuries. No use riling him up again._

 _With a sigh, and finding the words he'll be confident in saying, he turned his head towards the Miracle Medic._ "...I don't know much about it aside from what I discussed with the Fafnir Knight and the Highlander, but the creature I mentioned is what I call, the Ur-Devil." _He stated._

"U-Ur-Devil?" _Magnus repeated, as the Ronin nodded his head. Hell, that's probably the best Shen was going to get at naming a dangerous being. Lynus was especially concerned._

"That sounds... really dangerous." _Lynus hesitated on his wording. This very creature that Shen encountered could easily invoke fear into even the most bravest of explorers. Heck, that very same Ur-Devil can cause more fear than what Lord Taksony could dish out with each prisoner he sends away. And Lynus hated that thought._

"And honestly, it suits it to a T. It's power is far beyond any groups of F. , be it three or five of them. I'm just glad I managed to get away with what injuries I did have-" _Shen began, until Magnus slammed his hands against the bed, causing the Ronin to flinch and stare in Magnus' direction._

"And you decided to face it alone?! If you claim that it was THAT powerful, your battle against it was almost suicidal!" _Magnus argued, to the point where he probably woke someone up, despite trying his best to be quiet._

 _The Ronin drooped his head in shame._ "I'm aware of that... It was my mistake to think I could take it on, one-on-one."

 _Lynus sighed, and placed his hand on Shen's shoulder, causing him to face toward the medic._ "You have us, Shen... I'm sure all of us can help you take down this Ur-Devil."

 _The Alchemist turned his head towards Lynus and nodded, as if agreeing with the medic, before looking at Shen again, this time, with a more determined look than before._ "Lynus is right! We just need to know where it is, and kick its sorry ass all the way too the fucking moon!"

 _Shen points to where his map is._ "The map I drew is sufficient to know where it's located." _Magnus wasted no time and went straight towards the map, noticing the floor number was..._

"...Thirty-first floor? The hell?" _A floor past the thirtieth floor... how was that even possible? Magnus turned towards Shen, who was looking back at him._

"How in the high heavens of High Lagaard did you find this floor, Shen? We've yet to even finish exploring the 6th stratum, and yet you manage to find that it extends by one more floor?!" _Needless to say, Magnus was flabbergasted. Lynus had been rather silent, yet the Medic was also curious._

 _With eyes from both the medic and the alchemist looking at him, Shen quickly replied,_ "...It was a request from Lady Gradriel. I insisted on researching the floor for her up until I met the Ur-Devil and attempted to fight it. I was going to tell her soon, but then I bumped into the Gungnir Guild, and... well, you know the rest."

 _Seemingly, Magnus breathed a sigh of relief. Or he was likely trying to calm himself down. Both options would probably be a better conclusion. Magnus grabs the map and walks towards the door._ "I'm telling Hamza and the others about this. They'd be kinda lost if we don't tell them."

 _Lynus barely had a chance to respond, as the door was shut, leaving the Ronin and Medic in silence._ "And here I thought I was being too protective of you all..." _Shen commented after a short period of silence._

"Who wouldn't, after having their loved one nearly on the brink of death?"

 _Considering there has been situations where such a scenario occurred in any guild, even to the Miracle Medic himself, that was undeniable._

"Yeah... Still, I pray that I didn't make a mistake telling you guys. Whose to say anyone has lived against this thing to tell the tale?"

"Oh please, we'll be fine! We have a large guild, I'm sure all of us can pitch in to help!"

"I hope so, Lynus..."

"Hey, Hamza!" _Hamza, despite prepping to head to his room, looked at the approaching alchemist with a map in his hand._ "What is it, Magnus?"

 _Hamza inquired, before having the map thrust into his hand._ "Shen had found an extra floor above the thirtieth floor, home to something he calls the Ur-Devil," _Magnus began, as Hamza opened the map and took note of what Shen had drawn on the map, while taking a sip of his d_ rink.

"He also fought against said Ur-Devil and nearly escaped with his life."

 _Hamza spit out the drink in surprise, doing his best to avoid staining the map. He knew that Shen was always the one to map things out, but attempting to fight something alone was something he never considered. After replaying Magnus' earlier sentence in mind, Hamza looked back at the Alchemist, who was still continuing his explanation._

"I can't believe he thought with a name like that, he could simply take it down on his own! If ONLY I had been there with him, he wouldn't have-"

 _Magnus was interrupted when Hamza placed his hand on his shoulder in an attempt to calm him down._ "Calm yourself Magnus. Shen must have known this floor existed, and only wished to investigate for our safety should we find the floor. Although I don't exactly agree with him fighting that thing either, our best bet for now is to let him recover, while we prepare ourselves to investigate the floor ourselves."

"And potentially to get us to fight that Ur-Devil thing?! Are you sure we will even live through that battle?! I don't even want to imagine what it looks like!"

"You're gonna end up having nightmares when we do see it for ourselves." _He joked, which caused Magnus to swat his arm away from his shoulder, as Magnus told him to shut up, which only resulted in Hamza chuckling, before quickly patting Magnus' shoulder._

"Oh I jest, Magnus, don't worry. I'll tell the other members about this in the morning. For now, we both should get some shut eye." _The War Magus insisted, guiding the alchemist to the stairs._

"R-Right... Good night, Hamza."

"Good night, Magnus."

 _Magnus headed back up the stairs and walks out of Hamza's sight. Although he wanted to follow him, he quickly looked back at the map and notices a note that Shen likely placed. He wasn't sure if Magnus had seen it, but he takes a moment to read it._

"Gungnir Guild... Isn't that the name of the guild that Fafnir guy leads? Did Shen bump into them on that floor?"

 _What kind of situation did Shen put himself into?_


	3. Chapter 3: With Morning Regrets

_The sunrise slowly crept in like a wild animal upon Lagaard. While some members of the Gungnir Guild were getting ready to head out, Korey glanced at the ring that was on his ring finger, looking at a rare gem from the world he came from, still polished and radiating it's shine as the sun gleamed onto it. But even as he was looking at it, Korey had to question why he was still worried?_

 _Was it fear, or a natural sense that this might be a dangerous quest second to only the one back on his world? If only his beloved was by his side to keep him company, he wouldn't be this worried._

"No... bidding my time in wait isn't going to do any good. I must remain vigilant of the task ahead of us." _The Highlander uttered to himself, as he grabbed his equipment and trusty spear, before catching up with the others in the inn's main lobby. As they were walking towards Yggdrasil, a familiar voice called out to the guild, as Korey shifted his attention to the blue haired Ronin he and Fafnir ran into a few days ago._

"My apologies for the short preparation, everyone. The wait to get my revenge against the Ur-Devil was getting on my nerves." _He admitted, being rather quick with an apology this soon. Bertrand simply dismissed the apology._

"Don't mention it. We've been kinda busy training ourselves, so the sooner we face this thing, the less of a problem it will be for Lagaard." _Bertrand said as he flexed his arm to make sure it was well ready for the upcoming battle._

"Indeed. By the way, did you get enough Apple Matcha Shaved Ice?"

"Yep. Plenty enough for all of us." _Ricky confirmed, showing the Ronin a basket containing the Shaved Ice in question._

"Though, why did you ask us to bring food?" _Chloe couldn't help but inquire, seeing as out of the entirety of their trips to Yggdrasil or Ginnungagap, they really hadn't used the cafe to it's fullest, other than being a secondary place to eat on occasion. Shen placed a hand on his hip, motioning the guild to follow him as he explained himself._

"There's a reason I have for asked that specific food. During my solo attempt, I threw some blinding gas at it, and its attacks have been missing me to the point I was able to escape the battle with the injuries I have. From what I read yesterday from visiting that cafe, these Shaved Ices will make it even harder for the enemy to hit us, much like the blinding gas. This Ur-Devil really seems to be weak to being blind, despite not being able to see."

"Oh, that's rather interesting, Mr. Shen!" _Arianna commented, surprised to know the Ronin they're working with did some research._

"But I still ponder why you ask us to come early in the morning?" _Korey questioned, looking over at the sky and noticing that the sun was still rising. As they arrived to the stairs next to Yggdrasil, Shen turned to face the Highlander._

"I didn't want to rush everyone to eat the Shaved Ice before we enter the labyrinth. It's also to give us some time for the effect to take place. Plus, I kinda do need to explain why I found out about this floor in particular-"

"Oh, no need to concern yourself with that, Shen." _A female voice intervened the conversation, causing the guild and Shen to face the origin of the voice; seeing Lady Gradriel approaching them._

"Ah, Lady Gradriel! N-Nice morning, isn't it?" _Flavio stumbled, getting a quick glance from Fafnir, before looking back to Gradriel._ "It is indeed, Flavio." _She replied, as she and Arianna greeted each other, the later of which, turned to Shen._

"Gradriel requested us to come to her yesterday, and she filled us in on the details."

"...I see. Why don't you go ahead and tell them why I'm wrapped up in this particular quest?" _Shen hummed to himself, letting Gradriel take the wheel on Shen's explanation._

"You see, when Shen showed up to talk about the request at first, I was skeptical about him going in alone. I told him that you guys would be better at taking my request, but it seemed he was just that determined." _She began, scratching the back of her head as if she was confused about a solo mission for the quest she set out in particular._

"Though thanks to Shen's findings, we now know the dangers this Ur-Child possesses. I still want you all to be careful and to come back alive. I don't want to risk losing you all just to face this thing, but who knows what it can do otherwise... Lagaard cannot survive against something like this." _She continued, expressing great concern for the explorers before her that were tasked to defeat the Ur-Devil._

"We will do our best, Lady Gradriel." _Shen acknowledged, as Arianna soon added her own two cents on Gradriel's concern,_ "And we'll be victorious!"

"Just don't go worrying on us all day..." _The small War Magus commented, leaving Gradriel to chuckcle to herself._ "I'll try not to. Anyways, I got business to attend to. I wish you good luck, members of the Gungnir and Guardian Guilds."

 _Much like her sudden appearance, Gradriel leaves without hesitation, leaving the Guild and Ronin mere steps away from the Geo Magnetic Pole that will lead them to the thirty-first floor._ "So, are we gonna get started or not?" _Bertrand sighed, wanting to get this over with. Other explorers would think of him to be an impatient type, but that wasn't his concern for the time being._

"Yes... The Shaved Ices, if you please." _Shen politely asked to Ricky, as the blonde haired girl places down the basket and starts passing out the Shaved Ices to everyone, making sure to get one for herself as well, wasting no time but to dig into the food that's brought to them._

"...Wow, who knew ice can be flavored to be sweet?" _Fafnir commented, as Flavio chimed in shortly afterward._ "Doesn't help when it becomes rather bitter as it goes on- Aaaaagh!"

 _Flavio felt like his tongue was on fire, trying to jab the cold parts of the Shaved Ice on his tongue in an attempt to cool it down._ "That means the bitter sauce is doing its job." Chloe sighed, before taking another bite into her Shaved Ice.

 _Korey, however, had to take it a bit slow because the change between cold and bitter felt too sudden to him._ "I don't usually enjoy eating bitter stuff, but if it'll help us in the long run, then I'll have to eat it all!" _He declared, as Bertrand gulped down the food he had in his mouth._

"Well, this could potentially be our last meal together, but I don't want to get sentimental on you all. Not when we got a job to do." _Although Bertrand didn't notice it himself, Korey felt like he was kind of was being sentimental, despite the tone of voice he had._

"Right. We came this far, so giving up isn't an option anymore." _Arianna declared, as Ricky nodded in agreement._ "I'll protect the world I've been sent to look over, no matter what the cost is." _She added, remembering her duty and reason why she was here_.

"And we'll make sure that Lagaard doesn't suffer from the Ur-Devil's presence." _Shen concluded, clenching his free hand as he glanced at the Geo Magnetic Pole. Once they step through there, there is no return..._

 _But regardless of how Shen felt, someone out there was questioning his motives for sneaking out in the morning..._

"What do you mean Shen _snuck_ out when nobody was around?!"

 _Axel wasn't in a great mood, hearing that Shen snuck out in the morning. Magnus and Hamza where there, with him, as Magnus was the first to bring attention to the missing guild-member to Axel and their guild leader._

"He clearly told Lynus that all of us would take down the Ur-Devil, but I didn't expect him to just up and disappear in the morning! What the hell is up with him?!" _The Alchemist retorted, pacing back and forth as he did so._

"Must have been taking lessons from Rahas." _The black haired War Magus suggested, scratching his the back of his head._ "What, through the window?" _Magnus replied in confusion._

"I mean, that's a possibility. What'd you expect, other than for him to sneakily hope none of us were down here in order for him to escape?" _Hamza responded, as the blonde Alchemist took a few seconds to consider the possibility._

"Well, that's true... Ugh, never mind, we got to go after him! I refuse to have him die on me again!" _Shaking aside his concerns, Magnus focused on what they needed to do- chase down Shen, and help him before it was too late._

"We will, Magnus. We just need to finish our trip for preparations. Lynus just came back after a bit of shopping, so once we're stocked on Medica's and Amrita's, we'll head out. I know how protective you can be of Shen, but if he's with this Gungnir Guild, they should be fine until we get there..." _Axel reassured the Alchemist to the best of his ability. He's not Lynus, but he's still his friend, anything to keep him calm will help in the long run._

"For how long would depend on their strategy... Cause while we don't have a clear idea of what we're up against, Shen does." _Hamza added, which was the main reason why preparation took longer to begin with._

"We still must be careful of the floor itself, too. We're not sure what kind of FOE's could linger there." _The red haired landsknecht continued, reminding Magnus and Hamza to keep up their guard. Magnus looks toward Yggdrasil, placing his right hand on his chest, and letting out a deep sigh._

"I hope we're not too late..."

"I'll go help Lynus with preparations. We'll head to the Yggdrasil when we're ready." _Axel concluded, as he heads out of the room, with Hamza following behind him before turning to Magnus and calling out to him._

"You coming, Magnus?"

 _Magnus turns his head to face Hamza in silence, before giving a nod to him._ "...Yeah. I'm coming." _With a confirmation out of the way, Hamza continued to follow Axel, as Magnus grabbed his things and headed towards the door, before looking back at the room behind him one more time._

 _Was this battle worth the risk to save someone he cared for? Definitely. After all, if it was coming from Shen's own mouth, that Ur-Devil shouldn't be taken lightly. Shen needs him by his side as much as Magnus needed to be by him._

 _He lets out a deep sigh, grabbing the door handle and closing the door, steeling himself for the toughest battle of his- no, perhaps the toughest the Guardian Guild will come face-to-face with in the entirety of their journey through Yggdrasil. He was regretting not being able to stop Shen earlier, but his focus on saving him was more than enough to keep his regret off his mind._

"Some blind gas never hurts in case Tobyn's Blind Arrows aren't enough..." _Macerio's voice brought Magnus' attention to the table, where Macerio and Axel are helping Lynus with his preparations. Tobyn was currently flexing his bow string to make sure it was still usable._

"Trust me, if this Ur-Devil thing is capable of seeing anything, I'll make sure a thousand blinding arrows will keep it distracted." _Tobyn attempted to assure everyone, feeling his arrows will be more than sufficient than using a dark gas contained in a bottle. Although Magnus surveyed the room hundreds of times, there wasn't a sign of Hamza anywhere._

"Hey, Tobyn, do you know where Hamza went?" _He couldn't help but ask the Survivalist, who looked away from his weapon to the Alchemist and sat up._ "He said he wanted us to eat something that he found on one of Shen's notes, so we're just waiting for him to get back with it." _The blonde man replied, scratching his cheek as he continued his inspection of his bow._

"Something...? Like what?"

"Something called Apple Mocha Shaved Ice. I don't get why he would want us to have something that sounds like it'd be for a desert, but he said that eating it can help me pull off blinds more often." _Tobyn explained, as Magnus took a seat beside him._

"Then, once we eat it, the effect would take place?"

 _Sheesh, even when Tobyn was trying to prepare himself, Magnus sure was talkative today, especially when his love interest is putting himself in danger. But, seeing as he was wanting to talk, it would be a shame to leave him hanging with a question like that._

"I assume so. That cafe has some strange recipes that give off effects to explorers. To others, it's merely food. It's not my place to assume the cook behind the recipe if it's going to give us a benefit." _Tobyn assured him, placing his weapon beside him when he was finished, adjusting his scarf whenever needed._

"That does it for preparations." _Lynus declared, closing his bag and placing it over his head onto his shoulders. Macerio sighed, as he looked towards the inn's door, hoping Hamza would show up._

"Even if we manage to take this thing down, who knows if it will be back like the other monsters?" _The gunner couldn't help but ask, getting Lynus' attention unintentionally._ "We won't know until we face it ourselves. That's the best we can do, right Axel?"

"Yeah. We'll show it just how strong the Guardian Guild really is." _Axel concurred, smiling and giving Lynus a pat on the shoulder, followed by a kiss on the cheek._ "And I'll be there to protect you should it even get a thought about hurting you." _He added, as the orange haired medic couldn't help but chuckle as his face grew as red as a tomato._

 _As if one last note played on a song at the last second, the door finally opened, and Hamza came in holding two Shaved Ice Tobyn mentioned to Magnus earlier. Though following behind him was a rather unusual guest they had not seen before- a girl with green hair, mixed with red end streaks, red eyes and white skin, along with a grass-like dress of a female Sovereign and brown boots. She was holding the rest of the Shaved Ice that Hamza was unable to carry himself._

"Uhh, Hamza, what's with the girl following behind you?" _Axel questioned as Hamza placed the Shaved Ices on the table._ "She's very different from all the other explorers we've seen..." _Lynus added, as the girl in question followed Hamza in placing the food on the table before looking to the medic._

"Thou hasn't seen a Forest Folk before, human?" _She inquired, turning to face him, grabbing her dress and bowing before him._ "Thou may call me Hibiki, princess of the Forest Folk." _She began, seeming to act very formal to Lynus, despite the two having not met each other before._

 _Lynus thought it was a strange way to introduce themselves, but he sensed that she was a pure heart, and gave his traditional heart warming smile._ "Nice to meet you, Hibiki. I'm Lynus, the Guardian Guild's medic." _He responded with an introduction of his own, as she stood up afterwards to greet the others, who were short but brief with their introductions._

"So uh, Hibiki, why did you help our guild leader just now?" _Magnus asked, as Hibiki turned to face the Alchemist._ "Thy leader simply needed assistance, is all." _Hibiki began, as she started walking towards the door._

"As for thy friend, he has reached the thirty-first floor with the Gungnir Guild. I suggest thou should hurry before the deepest darkness swallows not only the blue-haired Ronin and the Gungnir Guild, but the world we all live in." _She added, as her hand touched the door handle before she was stopped by Lynus._

"Hey... If you're so inclined to tell us this, why won't you help us?" _She turned to face the orange haired medic that approached her. Her hand clenched tightly on the door handle._

"...I'm afraid."

"Afraid of what?" _Lynus politely asked, sensing that the Forest Sovereign was tearing up a little inside. Nosy as it might be, if he can quench her fear, she might have a better outlook for her life._

"...Afraid of being betrayed. Betrayed, punished and abused by thy kind for the simple reason for existing." _A silent gasp came from Lynus' mouth._

"So... is that why you're attempting to leave? To remain hidden?" _Lynus inquired, getting the girl to finally turn to face him, silently giving a nod as her answer._

"I hate to be a burden to thy guild, or to anyone. To become a burden, thy must leave thou future to the winds. That's what those stubborn parents of mine constantly reminded me, regardless of what I did." _Hibiki continued, feeling her grasp on the door lessen as she felt tears stream down her face, trying to hold them back, but she felt Lynus' hand stop her from wiping it away as her eyes came face-to-face with his._

"I know it may be hard for me to fully understand, Hibiki, but you're no burden. I know you're someone who is capable of doing more than hiding from their past. You just need to step out of your past- forget those abusive memories and forge new memories." _Lynus began, bringing her back inside to the lobby._

"He's gone full parental mode, now." _Magnus commented, as Axel simply scratched the back his head, chuckling to himself._ "Lynus is a very caring person, so I can't say we didn't see this coming." _The red haired landskecht remarked, looking onward at the scene before him as he took a bite of the Shaved Ice beside him, urging Magnus, Tobyn, and Macerio to eat up before they head out._

"Does thou think Korey will understand? I have not spoken with him about my own past, but-" Hibiki was interrupted by the caring medic standing before her. "I'm sure he'll understand as much as I will. You have a bright future just waiting for you, Hibiki. It's not too late."

 _Something about Lynus' words rung true. Although she was able to fend off one attack from an angry Sovereign once before, she barely had the need to fight within the labyrinth, cause she blended in well on the first stratum... Such calm and soothing words he spoke._

"If I can have a happy life being with the ones I care and love for, wouldn't you do the same?"

 _Hibiki blinked and looked at the other guild members that were in the lobby, noticing Axel's warm, smiling face as he overlooks Lynus before turning his attention to Hamza and discussing a strategy. Hearing the conversations of Magnus' care for Shen, and the reassurance from Macerio and Tobyn were simple enough for the Forest Sovereign to understand._ "I suppose... thou art correct." _She sighed, wiping away her tears as her attention turned back to Lynus._

"Lynus... Please, allow me to assist thy guild for the upcoming battle. I cannot hide myself anymore, and wish to ask for thy assistance to become an explorer." _She confessed, closing her eyes as if in shame of the future she did not attain before._

 _Lynus patted her shoulder in reassurance._ "We'll come across that bridge some other time, Hibiki. But thank you for letting me hear you out." _He sighed, as he started making his way over to the table, before turning to Hibiki._

"Are you coming? We'll be leaving soon after we eat." _He asked, as Hibiki stood up from where she knelt and looked at Lynus, as he saw her scarlet eyes, ablaze with hope and determination._ "...Coming." _She finally replied, a smile now forming on her face as she followed Lynus to the table._

 _The hour of battle comes nearer... In the highest reach of Yggdrasil._


	4. Chapter 4: Against the Deepest Darkness

_Although the location the Gungnir Guild found themselves on is the Forbidden Woods, Shen quickly reassures them that they arrived on the thirty-first floor. Korey and the others glance around._

"No wildlife here... Just like Shen said." _Korey concluded, turning around to face the Ronin._ "So, where do we go from here?" _He asked, as the Ronin motioned for him and the others to follow him to a batch of bushes._

"This passage is the only safer way to get to Ur-Devil without having to deal with the FOEs on this floor." _Shen explained, shifting some of the plants to reveal the pathway._ "Well, we'd love to explore the floor at some point, but-"

 _As Flavio speaks, Shen quickly intervenes._ "You really don't want to deal with these types of FOEs. Their movement is... unpredictable, to say the least."

 _Bertrand couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at that statement._ "Unpredictable movement, eh? Sounds irksome..." _He began, rolling his eyes. He disliked the idea that an FOE would have free will to move about anywhere with no set path._

"Also obnoxious." Chloe added, adjusting her glasses. Fafnir started to go through the shortcut. "Yeah... But, we can deal with them later to complete our monster encyclopedia. Come on."

 _As Fafnir goes through, the rest of the guild members of Guild Gungnir and Shen go through the shortcut one at a time. Korey easily sees a door and makes his way towards it, as the others follow close behind. When he reaches for the door, he stops as he senses the extreme amount of malice and darkness coming from behind the door, causing the Highlander to gasp and take a few steps back._

"Sir Korey, are you alright?" _Arianna inquired her worry to the shaking Highlander. It was all so sudden, yet, he hasn't felt this afraid since the journey through his Yggdrasil's sixth stratum. The being that was sealed away... it's mere strength was enough to send fear down his spine._

 _This... this was just like if that same monster got reincarnated and got even stronger than before! Perhaps it was a mistake to accept helping Shen after all..._ "Sir Korey!" _Arianna's yell snapped him back to the reality of the situation, causing him to turn to face the purple haired girl._

"I-I'm fine, Arianna... I-It's just cold up here, is all!" _Korey stuttered, trying to mask his fear. Ricky sighed and rolled her eyes, seeing how obvious his lie is._

"Stop lying, Korey. It's not like you to just straight up lie to try and cover up your fears..." _Ricky states, as the Highlander turned to face the Millennium Girl to bear the brunt of her worry. He sighs, holding his arm as his gaze at the ground._

"I'm sorry, Ricky... I guess it's just deja vu from the last time I've dealt with a dangerous being..." _He admitted, his eyes shifting to Chloe as he saw her approach him._

"You don't have to be scared. In truth, all of us are scared. But that won't stop Chloe from doing her best." _She began, holding onto one of Korey's hands in an attempt to comfort him. How someone like Chloe can manage to admit her worry and fear, yet manage to be brave was beyond his comprehension._

"I may not be able to live my life normally anymore, but I ain't letting that, nor whatever this Ur-Devil has in store, get the best of me." _Bertrand continued, seeing as the Highlander could use a little encouragement._ "And I'm sure there might have been moments in Sir Shen's life where he was scared..." _Arianna commented, as Shen looks away, giving a nod a few seconds later._

"But we're all scared of something. This is just one more monster we need to strike down for the safety of those we care about." _She continued, facing the worried Highlander with pride. He felt Fafnir's hand place itself on one of his shoulders, shifting his attention to Fafnir. Although he didn't have much to say, he gave a silent nod and a comforting smile... it was almost enough to remind him of his loved one prior to the battle with his Yggdrasil's toughest monster beyond its fifth stratum._

 _And he, too, smiled back, faith restored in the guild he helped along the way._ "You're right... Thanks guys. I'm glad to have friends such as you." _Korey beamed, looking the guild members before him with newfound determination._

"Not a problem. Now, let's go." _Fafnir hummed, as he began pushing on the door, fearless of what lied within that room. As Korey and the others went through, they were astonished to see the being that Gradriel proclaimed to be the 'deepest darkness'._

 _If there was even a word to describe it, it probably would lose all sense of meaning here. While the Ur-Devil was drastically different from Ur-Child, both name and appearance as the latter was looking angelic in a way, Ur-Devil expertly puts its appearance to represent all that is humanity's greatest sin. Six large claw-like protrusions from it's back, that could easily resemble six wings, a mass of tentacles coming from below it, almost giving off the illusion that it's sitting on it, the green, rotund belly its once human body has acting as a connecting piece to the being that stands before the Guild it now gazes upon..._

 _It was... frightening._

"Sweet mother of Iorys..." _Korey spoke, mouth agape as any hope he previously had seem to evaporate from his entire being._ "T-THAT's what we're up against?" The blonde girl questioned, turning to Shen when she asked. He gazed back at her and responded, "Even worse when it's the real thing, isn't it?"

"Y-Yeah! This thing just screams dark and evil!" _Flavio yelled, unintentionally clutching onto Fafnir's arm as he did so._

"Sheesh, even though I'm not one to care for these types of monsters, it's malice sure knows no bounds..." _Bertrand noted, seeming to stare at the huge being standing before them._

"But, here we stand, the only ones standing in its way..." _The Sovereign braved herself, taking out her weapon, as Bertrand, Chloe, Ricky, and Flavio did the same. Korey glanced at Fafnir and Shen, giving each other silent nods before facing Ur-Devil, and drew their weapons._

 _No more games. The time for battle is nigh, as they make their way towards Ur-Devil. As if sensing their approach, Ur-Devil prepares for battle as well._ "Our best bet is to keep it blinded at all times. Flavio, I entrust that task to you." _Shen declared, as the Survivalist nodded in return._

"Leave it to me." _Flavio took out an arrow and dipped it in some of the blinding gas in his pocket, before pocketing the item and taking aim with his bow._ "Take this!"

 _Releasing the string on his bow, the arrow launched high into the air, hitting Ur-Devil and somehow causing it to be blinded._ "Hell yeah! The Shaved Ice seems to be doing its job!" _Flavio cheered, not questioning how this thing has no eyes whatsoever._

"Don't celebrate too soon, Flavio. We still need to take it down." _Fafnir addressed, as Ricky aimed her gun towards the giant._ "Not like it wants to go down that easily..." _Ricky added, seeing as the fight had just begun._

"Then we'll just have to start dishing out the damage while we can! Hiyyyaah!" _Korey declared, charging at Ur-Devil and jumps at it, using his Delayed Charge skill on it. As Ur-Devil attempts to find what hurt it, Shen takes advantage of its confusion and used his Frigid Slash skill, causing the creature to scream in pain._

"Sheesh, for being weak to elementals, you sure have quite the mouth to blab about how much it hurts." Bertrand sighed, taking a strike at it with his sword. "Mr. Deepest Darkness won't be feeling it once we're done with it." _Chloe addressed, using her Guard Slash skill on Ur-Devil, as the creature seems to have its defenses lowered a bit._

 _Ricky focuses her aim, and shoots two bullets at the arms, hitting them as vines grew on them, binding themselves to Ur-Devil. Their green texture easily stood out from the mix of purple the black human bod has attached itself to. However, Ur-Devil grows a smile on its face, sending out some sort of energy wave, hitting everyone and draining their TP, heavily exhausting them._

"What the... hell was that about?!" _Korey gasped, gritting his teeth as he attempted to stand._ "It's trying to tire us out... right out of the gate..." _Shen tried to explain, falling on his knee from his attempt of standing up._

"Not something... a Healing Remedy can fix!" _Arianna declared, getting the remedy out and uses it on everyone. Bertrand helps Chloe stand up, and Arianna goes to assist Shen, the Ronin thanking the Sovereign for helping him stand._

"Well, that was something... Best to keep those remedies as back up, Arianna. Something tells me we'll be needing to rely on them a lot." _Korey insisted, as the princess nodded._

"You got it, Sir Korey!" _Arianna and Bertrand simultaneously go up to Ur-Devil and strike it, as Flavio takes an arrow and shoots it upward, hoping it will land on Ur-Devil. Fafnir glances at Flavio, smirking at his friend's plan._ "Confident in that Sagittarius Arrow, eh?" _He queried._

"Well sometimes, it's best to try than to not try at all, Fafnir!" _Flavio blurted, as Fafnir simply chuckled before taking a swing at Ur-Devil, letting Korey and Shen take their turns at it. The sky turned red, as Ur-Devil tried releasing red energy waves towards its attackers, but thanks to a combination of missing and dodging, everyone survived being hurt._

"You know, it's a lot easier with allies around than having none at all, Shen. You know what you're doing when it comes together in one solid plan." _The brown haired Highlander commented, and although he wasn't sure if Shen took it as a compliment or not, he still took some time to respond to him._ "You say that now, but it'll get tougher as we go on. Don't let your guard down for a second!"

"Easier said than done, knowing my luck..." _Korey uttered, using his Cross Charge attack on Ur-Devil. As time passed, they seem to made gradual progress with striking Ur-Devil, and being lucky with avoiding some of its attacks. But even mortals cannot dodge forever..._

 _As the Gungnir Guild and Shen continue their onslaught on the Ur-Devil, it eventually breaks free of its arm bind and finally lands an attack after being able to see - sending blue energy waves at Korey, Arianna, Ricky and Fafnir._

"Gagghh!" _Korey screamed in pain, as Ricky used her turn to send a healing bullet his way._ "Damn it, it's able to see again!" _Fafnir growled, standing up after being launched back by its attack._

"Not that I'm one to question how it's able to see much like Ur-Child, but how is it able to hit us, exactly?" _Flavio queried, as he dips another arrow in the blinding gas, and using his Blind Arrow skill, manages to land another blind effect on Ur-Devil. The less its able to see, somehow, the better._

"It probably has high senses that it counts as seeing through, probably? I'm not one for monster biology." _Shen tried explaining, giving up halfway through his explanation._

"Not to mention the Overlord is dead, so we can't straight up ask him why he made them that way." _Korey added, as he grabbed his spear and stood up._ "Less talking, more fighting, Korey. Ammunition can't be sustained forever, you know!" _Ricky urged, trying to take considerate care for her means of attacking in this fight._

"Yeah, yeah..." _Korey sighed, as he gets up to make his move on Ur-Devil._ "I swear... by the Order... protect us!" _Arianna chanted, as a healing aura flows through Korey, Ricky, Flavio, and Fafnir. She proceeds to do the same for herself, and the others that she didn't use it on before._

 _As swords and attacks from both sides continued for some time, Ur-Devil begins shaking._ "What is it doing now?!" _The Highlander questioned._

"Look, something's coming out from those sockets!" _Chloe exclaimed, as everyone looks at the empty sockets from the large claw-like wings. From the top most socket and the bottom left holes, two huge red eyes appear. Everyone but Shen gasps at the surprise._

"Ur-Eyes." _Shen grunts, much less to his amusement. Flavio couldn't help but shiver at seeing those things appear._

"So is THAT how it's able to see?!" _He asked, freaking out a little bit at the thought that it was hiding eyes within itself the entire time._

"Beats me, but if it's able to summon those, we'll gonna be in deep trouble. Let's diverge our attention to defeat those eyes!" _Korey issued without hesitation. Even though Fafnir was technically the guild's leader, seeing the Highlander act upon a dangerous situation for himself was honestly a sight to behold for the Fafnir Knight._

"Right! How about this, you horrid monster?!" _Ricky yells, shooting a few elemental Ice Rounds at the eyes, causing them to bulge from the surprise attack. Shen uses his Frigid Slash to deal some more damage to one of them taking it out surprisingly well thanks to Fafnir's assistance. Thankfully, Korey, with his Spear Assist, and Flavio worked well together thanks to the earlier Ice Rounds from Ricky, to take down the other eye._

"Talk about quick work." _Fafnir commented, as Korey lands on the ground and turns to Fafnir._ "You know, what can I say? I know troublesome assistants when I see them." _Korey remarked, scratching the back of his head as if he was caught doing something a child would do._

 _Though things quickly changed, as Ur-Devil begins to charge up, seeming to amplify something for its upcoming attack. Shen gasps,_ "It's charging up! If it's doing what I think it's doing...!"

"Heh, doesn't hurt to be safe than sorry. Perfect Defense!" _Bertrand smirks, using his Force Break, as everyone was guarded by some kind of invisible aura. Once Ur-Devil finished charging, it unleashes its most devastating attack; Eternal Exodus._ _As the shots hit everyone, they weren't launched back from the attack. In fact, they were relatively unfazed by the attack thanks to Bertrand's quick thinking._

"Nice one, Bertrand! Talk about a close one!" _Flavio complimented, as Bertrand glanced at him._ "Kid, now's not the time to-"

 _Before Bertrand can even finish, a bright gleam shined from Ur-Devil, causing everyone to shield their eyes for a few seconds, before it fades. It didn't take long to realize it must have taken their Force away. Kind of like Ur-Child did. And it also manage to be able to see after that gleam occurred._

"Well shoot." _Was all Bertrand said, not bothering to lash out in anger on his friend. Although Korey decided to do just that._

"Gee, way to _jinx_ things, Flavio!" _Korey hollered, as Flavio wasn't gonna have any of that jinxing remark thrown his way._ "Heeey! Not my fault I was trying to compliment Bertrand!"

"Just get to binding the damn legs of this thing. I'll try blinding it with this blinding gas!" _Shen ordered, searching through his bag to get the item in question._

"Easier said than done!" _Ricky declared, shooting two bullets at the legs, as green vines attached itself onto Ur-Devil again. Shen took the blinding gas and threw it at Ur-Devil, as the bottle explodes on impact. When the gas clears..._

 _Well, needless to say, Shen was surprised. Legitimately surprised. Even when the gas hit its target, it wasn't blinded whatsoever._ "What...?! It should have worked as intended!" _He questioned, having never seen this kind of situation happen in his solo encounter with the Ur-Devil._

 _Everyone was surprised at this turn of events. Their strategy that they had used might be starting to lose its use in this battle._ "Unless it might be trying to build up a resistance to being blind as the fight drags on..." _Fafnir began._

"That could spell disastrous news for us...!" _Arianna gulped, starting to become afraid of the worst possible outcome._ "We have to get it blinded, or we'll never win this battle..." _Chloe declared, but before anyone had a chance to comment, another gleam came from Ur-Devil._

"...Huh. At least it was forgiving enough to give us back our Force power." _Korey hesitated at first, but felt more or less back at normal fighting capacity with his Force back._

"Yeah, unlike the Ur-Child... However, granting us back our Force will be its biggest mistake." _Fafnir concurred, as he transformed into his signature form, the Fafnir Knight._

"Let's show this damned ultimate life form what for!" _The transformed knight declared, as everyone, brave enough to hopefully turn some of the tide of battle, stood by his side._ "Magnus... please, for my sake, give me the strength to live on through this battle..." _Shen utters to himself for a brief moment before glancing back at the almighty being before him._

 _Back down at the base of Yggdrasil, Hibiki fumbles with the Geomagnetic Pole as she finally finds the place the Gungnir Guild went to._ "...They're in Dark Paradise." _Hibiki declared._

"Dark Paradise?" _Axel queried, feeling the Forest Girl gaze at him._ "A secluded area in the sixth stratum that has been sealed long before any explorers dared to climb Yggdrasil. At least, that's how the rumors go..." _She explained to the best of her knowledge._

"If it's in the sixth stratum, why give it that name to differentiate from the main stratum?" _Lynus asked, bringing up a valid question._ "Probably to prevent explorers from mindlessly finding it, if I had to venture a guess." _Magnus suggested, seeing as Hibiki did not have an answer for the Medic._

"Let's just go already. The more we wait, time's running out for Shen and the others." _Tobyn insisted, going through the Geomagnetic Pole. The others, including Hibiki, soon followed, warping above Yggdrasil to the same floor the previous guild had entered. As they move away from the Geomagnetic Pole, they hear an indescribable scream._

"The hell was that?!" _Tobyn gasped in surprise, looking around desperately trying to find the source of the sound._ "Must be the deepest darkness. Thy friends must still be fighting it as we speak." _Hibiki deduced, hearing some sounds of yells and words are coming from somewhere in the labyrinth._

"Shen..." _Magnus sighed, clutching his chest, hoping the Ronin was still alive. Lynus notices a dirt trail coming from the magnetic pole._

"Lynus? What is it?" _Axel inquired as soon as he saw Lynus follow a trail he had not seen before. The Medic soon arrives at the shortcut, seeing some shrubbery discarded beside it._

"This trail leads directly to this bush. It must be a shortcut of sorts... And judging from the way it was made, it must have been from the tip of a sword." _Lynus exclaimed, as the others followed behind him._

"Likely Shen's sword...?" _Magnus inquired._ "That's a possibility, though I may be wrong and it could have been a spear..." _The orange haired medic responded, at most educating a guess._

"We must make haste. I can sense the deepest darkness is up to something." _Hibiki declared, urging the others to hurry on through the shortcut. They soon hear grunts and yells coming from a slightly open door, proceeding to make their way to it. As Lynus opens it, he reels back from the sight of something, as Axel grabs Lynus to prevent him from falling backwards._

"Lynus, are you alright?!" _Axel shouted, hoping to calm the medic down._ "T-T-That... thing... it's too..." _Lynus stuttered, unable to find the right words to express the fear he felt._

"Lynus, get a grip, man!" _Macerio yelled, helping Axel in calming down the frightened Medic. Magnus peeks through the door, witnessing the sight of Ur-Devil for himself._

"Ugh... This damn thing refuses to die..." _Korey grunts, taking a few steps back after using an attack of his._ "Being sparse with our damage output isn't helping in this part either..." _Arianna added, taking a deep breath as she tries to stand._

"But we must... Ugh, stand tall!" _Fafnir urged, picking up his sword._ "I can dodge at least one more attack, but I'm unsure whether blinding it will still work when it's resistance seems to be building up more and more..." _Flavio suggested, struggling to stand up._

 _Magnus notices Shen is on his knees, seemingly running out of strength to continue. Was he too late? He felt his hand clench around something, and turns to see a blinding gas that Hibiki placed in his hand._

"Hibiki, what are you-"

"Thou must not hesitate. Throw it with everything thou possess to strike that thing with this." _Hibiki quickly urged._

 _Not having enough time to process this opportunity, Magnus goes through the door and throws the blinding gas at the Ur-Devil. The bottle hits its mark, as Ur-Devil flinches back and unleashing its attack, missing all of them in the process._

"Huh?!" _Ricky jumped in surprise when that blinding gas came out of nowhere and managed to blind the Ur-Devil. Before anyone could ask who did that, Magnus runs up to Shen and brings him into a hug._

"M-Magnus?!" _Shen stuttered, not believing what was happening right this moment..._ "You can be one real idiot sometimes, Shen... But when we stick together, we do JUST that!" _Magnus declared, looking into Shen's eyes like a strict parent tells their child to look at them in the eyes._

"Hey, it's Mr. Medic and his guild." _Chloe announced, seeing Lynus, Axel, Macerio, and Tobyn come through the door and approach Shen._ "What are they doing here?" _Fafnir questioned._

"Easy enough to have concerns for a fellow guild member." _Axel replied, as he makes a glare towards the Ur-Devil._ "So, you're this so called 'Ur-Devil', huh? That's gonna change very soon, cause I'm gonna bash your sorry skull into the ground!" _The red haired Landsknecht threatened, taking out his axe._

"Here, some Amrita's. You'll need them." _Tobyn gives out some Amritas to everyone on the Gungnir Guild._ _Korey notices Hibiki standing right beside him._

"H-Hibiki? What are you doing here?!" _Korey questioned, seeing as he never seen her with such a determined glare in her eyes._

"We have no time to speak about why I am here. The enemy prepares to strike." _Hibiki replies, as the Highlander quickly turns to see Ur-Devil use Shed thy Tears on Magnus, Macerio, and Tobyn._

"Guaah!" _Tobyn yelled, caught off guard by the attack._ "Ugh...! You ungrateful-!" _Magnus growled, glaring at the giant creature for daring to attack him._

"Here, some heals." _Chloe spoke up, using a healing skill of hers, greatly recovering the injuries of the three boys that were targeted. For good measure, she also heals everyone._

"Ah, thank you, miss." _Macerio thanked, as Chloe gave him a small smile._ "Chloe's just doing her job."

 _Magnus, however, still wasn't happy with the Ur-Devil._ "Hope you love the taste of fire, motherfucker, cause I'm gonna burn you to the ground!" _Magnus hand gauntlets ignited with fire, sending off a powerful Flame Formula towards it, making direct contact with it._

"Here goes!" _Tobyn yelled, using his Multi-Shot skill to back up Magnus' Flame Formula, hitting Ur-Devil directly. Hibiki then steps forward, with a Grimoire stone in hand._

"Deepest Darkness..." _She began._ "Thou shall face the wrath of not only that of the princess of the Forest Folk, but of those who will stand by me, and accomplish the deed tasked onto us by Lady Gradriel! Null thy Strength!"

The Grimoire Stone shines, as Hibiki charged forward and slashed at Ur-Devil, making its attack lowered.

"We shall not Pity the Weak! Not even for a bastard like you!" _She continued, going for another attack while the Ur-Devil is reeling from the first one, now lowering its defenses._

"Look at Dame Hibiki..." _Arianna said, astonished at the Forest Girl's quick thinking._ "She's quite skilled for not being able to fight all that often..." _Korey remarked._

"Quite astonishing, if I must say so myself. Are Forest Folk usually this naive when it comes to fighting?" _Axel inquired the Highlander, giving him a few seconds to think of an answer._

"Well, since Lagaard doesn't have any Forest Folk within it... Probably not..." _Korey shrugged, as a gleam from Ur-Devil catches everyone off guard, granting the Gungnir Guild back their Force. However, it then summons a blue Ur-Eye and a yellow Ur-Eye along with its red Ur-Eye from the holes it had in its claw-like wings._

 _Everyone on the Guardian Guild was surprised when it occurred. Though Tobyn was easily shocked by that fact._ "What the hell?!" _Tobyn screamed, blinking his eyes to reassure he wasn't dreaming of that had happened._

"T-That thing has EYES?!" _Lynus soon followed suit in the confusion. "_ And they come from those holes on it?!" _Followed by Axel._

"Pretty much everyone's reaction to when that happened..." _Shen remarked, specifically mentioning the Gungnir Guild._ "Now's not the time to be joking around, Shen!" _Magnus sighed, as Shen simply shrugged before re-assuming his battle stance._

"I was just trying to lighten the mood..." _Shen uttered to himself._ "Focus, you guys! We came this far into the fight when you showed up, and we're gonna need help to finish it off!" _Ricky declared, shooting at Ur-Devil so she can get another bind off on it._

"All I can really do is heal, so-"

"No need to worry, Lynus. Leave the smashing part to me, you just heal us whenever necessary!" _Axel reassured the Medic, as he proceeds to charge towards Ur-Devil._ _Macerio fires some volt elemental bullets, hitting the blue Ur-Eye, and Ricky fires some fire elemental bullets, hitting the yellow Ur-Eye shortly after the blue eye took its hit._

"Stunning Smash!" _Axel yells, jumping up to hit the red Ur-Eye with his axe, causing the eye to spasm and explode, causing Axel to be launched back._ "Axel!" _Lynus yelled as he quickly rushes over to him and heals him._

"Are you alright?!" _The Medic queried, as the red haired Landsknecht sat up._ "Yeah, I'm alright. Just surprised it did that after hitting it..." _He replied, picking up his axe and taking Lynus' hand to help him stand up._

"Taste electricity, you damned beast!" _Magnus yelled, using a Spark Formula to strike the blue Ur-Eye. Shen uses his Flame Grater attack to strike the yellow Ur-Eye as Ur-Devil recovers health while the enemies standing before it striked at its eyes._

"We got to get rid of those damn eyes... Force Boost!" _Korey growled, activating his Hero Boost Force Boost, using his Spear Assist to kill off the red Ur-Eye, exploding upon defeat, healing from Bertrand's Fire Wall skill._

 _Hibiki soon takes her turn against one of the Ur-Eyes, targeting the blue one as she takes a leap at it._ "Take this!" _She yelled, slashing at it, and backing away once Bertrand hits it as well. It then explodes, as Bertrand easily shields himself and Hibiki with his Ice Wall skill._

 _As if getting desperate, Ur-Devil releases some kind of aura._ "Oh no... that can't be good..." _Lynus gulped._

"Why? This thing's already not good!" _Axel spoke, landing from striking at the Ur-Devil._ "N-No... it's just that... if anyone of you falls... I d-don't think reviving you will work while its up..." _Lynus tried to explain loud and clear so everyone could hear him._

"Great... this thing must really be that desperate." _Bertrand sighed, getting up from hiding behind his shield._

"Stay determined, everyone! We can't give up!" _Korey ordered, feeling rather frustrated at the tricks Ur-Devil seems to be trying to stoop to._

 _Tobyn uses his Multi-Shot attack on the yellow Ur-Eye, as Arianna goes over to protect Tobyn with her Volt Wall Grimoire, shielding him from the Ur-Eye's death explosion, as the last Ur-Eye faded away to nothingness._ "All Ur-Eyes eliminated." _Shen shouted, signaling repeating his sentence one more time to make sure everyone was paying full attention._

"And here comes an Eternal Exodus with our names on it." _Korey huffed as he notices Ur-Devil began charging up for the attack._

"You sound as if you're not excited for it when I have the perfect counter against it." _Bertrand grinned, using his Perfect Defense Force Break, nulling the damage Eternal Exodus could have done to everyone. Although a bright gleam from Ur-Devil then takes their Force away._

"Huh-?! What's happening?!" _Lynus questioned, looking around to find out what happened._ "Hey, what gives, I was gonna use my Force, you son of a bitch!" _Axel snarled at the giant being._

"Relax, kid. If it's gonna be as forgiving as it was earlier, it's going to give us a fighting chance by giving it back to us." _Bertrand reassured the Landsknecht._

"Wait, just like that? But why would it-?" _Magnus questioned, confused about why a being as powerful as Ur-Devil would give its enemies a fighting chance._

"I wish we knew, Magnus... I wish we knew..." _Shen simply shrugged, unable to really answer his love's question. The Forest Girl glares at the giant being, feeling the atmosphere tense up around her, letting out a gasp as a realization hit her._

"Hibiki? What's up?" _Korey asked, the first to hear the girl's sudden worry, before she turned to face everyone._ "I regret to inform you all at such a short notice, but..."

 _Hibiki gulps before continuing._ "I'm afraid... we're running out of time." _That couldn't be good news, as everyone lets out a gasp in surprise._

"Imminent doom is about to rain down on all of us if we don't defeat it before it will infinitely charge up... And by that point, we might all be considered dead." _Hibiki explained, shifting her eyes downward, as if she was disappointed in defeating it before it had reached this point._

"No way...!" _Arianna shuttered, trying not to cry upon hearing the Forest Girl's explanation._ "Then... did we really just come here to die to some unholy abomination?" _Magnus questioned, clenching his fists in anger._

"After all, it seemed like it recovered some of the damage that was dealt to it..." _Macerio added, further adding to the distraught and worry on everyone. Although Hibiki did not state how long it will take it, they have no idea when its gonna do exactly that._

"To hell with that logic." _Korey blinked, seeming to recall a similar situation in Gladshiem weeks before the trip to High Lagaard. Simon's words still lingered in his head..._

"Even if we're running out of time, we must still do something to prevent the end of Etria. I've lost my hometown because of this mechanism, but I will not let another town suffer the same incident. Not ever again... That's why we're in this together. We won't stop until we've stopped the threat to our world."

 _The amount of care the Midgard Library's Medic expressed in his words on that day still had a place in the Highlander's heart. Glancing at his spear, where an old friend once sacrificed her life to empower him... For some reason, gave him a sense of calming. Even when told that they were nearing death's doorstep, he found the thought of fighting in a dire situation to be calming. He blinked, eyes fueling with an undying flame._

"Even if it may cost our lives... Even if I might never see my loved one ever again..." _Korey began, soon pointing his spear towards the almighty creature._ "No matter what the enemy may do to break us down... the future is always ours to shape!" _Axel and Lynus looked at the determined Highlander, seeing his confidence unflinching from the Ur-Devil's clear motive._

"I'm not giving up. I've made it clear once before, that no matter what the enemy is, we'll be there to strike them down. If we give in to fear, we won't accomplish anything. That is why... despite everything... I still fight. Not just for me, but for everyone I care for - to make everyone happy!"

 _Hibiki simply stares in awe of the Highlander's determination. Nobody dared to oppose his words, as silence filled the battlefield, before Axel approaches the Highlander, causing him to look at the Landsknecht._

"You know," _Axel began._ "you might have to work a bit on your motivational speeches. But if there's one thing we can agree on, is the safety of those we cherish. I've missed Lynus so much in the past, I thought I'd never really see him again. But we're together now, and that's one thing I don't want to lose. So we'll help too."

 _Axel places a hand on the Highlander's shoulder, giving him a confident smile. Fafnir soon approaches, as Korey's eyes turn to face him._ "Honestly, meeting you was, as they say, chosen by destiny." _Fafnir began, chuckling at the mere idea of saying that line._

"But those you care for can't be chosen by such a fate. It's something we make as we travel, or grow up with each other. And there are those that I wish to protect, especially Flavio and Arianna. Of course, now that I'm cursed to wander forever, it might not be a great thing, but I'm willing to set that aside to be with the friends and ones that I care about." _Fafnir bravely spoke, feeling like contributed to the speech department._

 _Korey felt like he was leading an army, but that didn't stop him from giving the Fafnir Knight a brotherly hug. Although Fafnir questioned to himself why he would do it, he simply placed an arm around Korey's back and returned with a hug. If they were going down, best to go down as close friends than mere strangers to each other's past._

"Art thou really willing to go through with this?" _Hibiki's voice brought Korey's attention to her, as he replied, in the arms of Fafnir,_ "We've come so far. To stop now would not only waste resources, but we also risk other explorers to die to this thing." _Korey began, soon being freed of Fafnir's bro-hug._

"So that's why, despite knowing that I may die..." _He continued, moving aside his his brown hair, soon charging towards Ur-Devil._

"I will fight for everyone's happiness!"


	5. Chapter 5: Betting it All (Finale)

"Heh, the kid is actually trying to put up a brave front. Bravo for him at least trying, but this old man is gonna be stubborn as hell, and help a fellow man out." _The blonde man hummed to himself, before soon following behind Korey, not wasting any time._

"At times like this, fellow men like us should shoulder our burden and march on, despite the enemy's plans. We'll have our ways of helping each other out, and we shall see ours come to fruition!" _Shen muttered to himself, leaping at Ur-Devil as his sword sparked with electricity, striking Ur-Devil, but ends up getting shaken off thanks to how big Ur-Devil is._

"Shield Smite!" _Bertrand throws his shield at Ur-Devil's arms, getting a lucky arm bind, as the green vines settle on Ur-Devil's arms once more._ "For everyone I care fooooor!" _Flavio yelled, uses his Multi-Hit skill, as the arrows launch right into its arms, bringing even more pain to Ur-Devil._

"Well, guess when you're friends with a determined human being, you'll feel motivated to do what's right." _Magnus sighed, looking at his hand for a few seconds before glancing over to Shen, who had just gotten up from being shaken off._ "Besides, I can't lose my concentration. I've got to fight, as I've always had been!"

 _Magnus' hands lit up, as a few light rays of fire, ice and volt come together to make some sort of ball big enough for Magnus to fit in his hand. He throws it, sending a mix of fire, ice and volt attacks at Ur-Devil, directly hitting it. As it screams in pain, it uses Sunlight's Dawn, giving everyone back their Force._

"You know Fafnir, that Highlander of yours would make a great guild leader one day." _Axel remarked, seeing Fafnir's smile from glancing at him._ "Heh, I think it might have been easier just to give him my guild leader title..." _He argued, knowing that a lot of paperwork probably would have been done to simply make the Highlander the guild's leader._

"But we should stop standing here, we've got some ass to kick." _Axel digressed, reverting his gaze back at Ur-Devil._ "Right. And we're gonna go all out!" _Fafnir concurred, temporary placing his sword away._

"Force Boost!" _Both Landsknecht and Fafnir Knight shouted, as a strong aura surrounded the red haired Landsknecht. Fafnir transformed into his signature Fafnir Knight form once again, making his way to assist the Highlander once he finished transforming, with the Landsknecht close behind._

 _Ricky, who had been thinking about what Korey was talking about, clasped her hands together as she finally understood the sudden courage bursting within him._ "So that's how it is, huh?" _She pondered, as Arianna turned to ask,_ "What is?"

"You see, a similar situation like this happened back in Etria. And yet, despite the odds stacked against us, we marched forward to stop a grave danger... At the cost of a friend, however..." _Ricky explained._

"Seems like thou and Korey went through a lot back in Etria..." _spoke an intrigued Hibiki. Ricky turned to her and nodded._

"Yes... but, now's not the time for reminiscence. We've got a devil to slay. Force Boost!" _Ricky tabled the discussion, getting back to the battle at hand as she called out her Force Boost, activating a strong aura around her as she focused her aim on Ur-Devil. Arianna and Hibiki turn to face the Ur-Devil as well, so as to not loose of the objective that they had come for in the first place._

"Well, we might as well finish this all together. Right, Magnus?" _Shen inquired the Alchemist next to him, as he simply nods. As Shen makes a few steps forward, Magnus stops him for a moment,_ "Hey, Shen?"

"Hm?" _The Ronin stopped in his tracks, turning to the Alchemist._ "If, by some chance we don't make it through... then I just want you to know that it's been fun, being with you and the Guardian Guild... I-" _Magnus began, stopping as he heard Shen chuckle._

"I'm sorry, it's just that... You make it sound like we will fail, even with the number of explorers that are standing beside us. Have some confidence, don't lose that concentration of yours." _The Ronin reminded, as he quickly stepped back towards Magnus._

"Besides, you said it yourself; we'll take down the Ur-Devil together. That kind of confidence needs to be out a little more, Magnus. It's something that makes us in sync, if you put it that way..." _He continued, starting to sound like he was making no sense._

"...No, you're right. I guess the mere thought of dying next to you was getting to my head." _Magnus spoke up, after taking what Shen said into consideration._

"You should focus on concentrating so we can dash out enough damage so we can defeat it. Besides, if we're going all out, might as well use our Force to bring it to its knees." _Shen insisted, seeing as some of the members of the Gungnir Guild and part of his own Guild have started to use their Force Boosts to help ease the tide of battle._

"He's right! It's our only option- other than hoping we bring it down before it brings us down." _Macerio chimed in, shooting a few bullets at Ur-Devil's direction._

"I'm ready to end this damned thing's life!" _Tobyn concurred, following along with a shot to Ur-Devil after Macerio's bullets hit it. Magnus grows a smirk on his face and concentrates._

"...Force Boost." _Magnus uttered, feeling a surge of power envelop him, sending a Thor Formula at Ur-Devil. Ur-Devil had done three separate attacks, before the Thor Formula collided with it, dealing more damage to it thanks to it being weak to elementals._

"Thunder Wave!" _Fafnir slashed at Ur-Devil at least ten times, each hit delivering an electric shock._

"Spear Assist!"

"Volt Chaser!"

 _Korey and Axel followed Fafnir's Thunder Wave attack with follow-ups of their own, both dealing elemental damage to Ur-Devil. Fafnir resets his Force Boost, reverting back to normal. Better save it for a last resort than not being able to transform at all._

"Hey, Tobyn! Let's make it rain arrows!" _Flavio suggested, as the blonde haired Survivalist nodded in understanding._ "You got it, Flavio." _The two Survivalists stood side-by-side, their faces hardened with determination._

"Summer Rain!" _They simultaneously shouted, unleashing a barrage of arrows at the giant abomination. As it took the damage from the two Force Breaks, Ur-Devil attempts to strike back at the two._

"Supreme Bolt!" _The Millennium Girl yelled, launching a hard hitting bullet at Ur-Devil, causing it to be stunned. Hibiki stepped forward, with her Grimoire stone clutched tightly in her hand._

"From the depths of my heart... help us quell the darkness within... and send it to an Eternal Exodus!" _Hibiki's Grimoire shines again, summoning the exact light Ur-Devil used against the Gungnir Guild countless times, falling to her knees as it used a lot of TP to use, but not enough to keep her down for long._

"Whoa...!" _A surprised Lynus gasped, having never seen that move before._ "Just how many Grimoire stones did she have reserved?" _Flavio questioned, as the Protector merely shrugged._ "Probably just as much as we have, if I'm assuming things..."

 _After Magnus sent two Riot Formula spells against Ur-Devil, he uses his Force Break, dealing almighty damage to the abomination, and weakening it even more. Ur-Devil does break free of its arm bind, not looking too pleased with having its arms trapped multiple times._ "That oughta do it! Just gotta keep it up!" _Magnus urged, preparing another Formula to toss at Ur-Devil in his hand._

"Flavio, Tobyn, if either one of you can blind this thing, that'd be great by now!" _Korey desperately urged, not liking the glare its giving to the Highlander. Both Survivalists tried to blind it, but with no luck. Tobyn growls at the issue that presented itself as clear as day, despite getting off some free hits on Ur-Devil._

"...This presents a problem." _Tobyn spoke in an annoyed tone._ "Let me try!" _Lynus called out, as he grabs a blinding gas from his bag, and throws it at Ur-Devil, though it doesn't work either. It simply laughs at Lynus' efforts._

"Damn it... Is it really resisting our blinding methods?!" _Lynus shouted in disbelief, though his effort was appreciated._

"The least we can do is at least bind its arms. Ricky, let's do it!" _Macerio looked at the blonde haired gunner, as she nodded._ "Right behind you!"

 _Macerio and Ricky both aim their shots at Ur-Devil's arms, reapplying the arm binds to it. It growls in anger, getting rather pissed off at the Gunners' combined efforts._

"Arianna, I'm gonna need some Axcela's, and fast!" _Fafnir commanded, as Arianna nodded and grabbed the bag._ "Got it, Sir Fafnir!" _After grabbing some of the Axcela's, she runs over to Fafnir and hands the items to him, before heading out to strike at Ur-Devil. He quickly uses a few of them to recover his Force without waiting for it to fully recharge._

"Hoping to maintain your transformation, huh?" _inquired Axel._ "Best to preserve it for the time being, I'm afraid. If I break my Force, I'll be unable to transform again." _Fafnir explained, handing some Axcela's to Axel._

"You'll need some too, seeing as you didn't use your Force Break..." _He insisted, as the Landsknecht thanked him before using two of them to restore his Force. However, Ur-Devil finally uses Shed Thy Tears, hitting Lynus, Tobyn, Flavio, and Korey._

"Gyaah!" _The orange haired medic screamed in pain, as did Korey, Tobyn, and Flavio. Upon hearing Lynus' scream, Axel flung his head to see Lynus attempting to get up from the attack, before giving Ur-Devil a rather evil death glare._ "You bastard...! Hands off my Lynus!"

 _Axel exploded, striking Ur-Devil with his axe, in a rage that couldn't be calmed down._ "Chloe, some healing is in order!" _Fafnir insisted, as he helps Korey get up from the attack._

"On it." _Chloe responded, using her War Heal All on everyone for safe measure. She spends a few seconds to give Lynus a reassured healing, helping him stand up._ "Is Mr. Medic okay?"

"Y-Yeah, I'm good... That attack is just a pain to avoid, unfortunately." _Lynus replied to the War Magus' question._

"Even if we wanted it to miss when it was blinded, that sadly can't be the case..." _Bertrand sighs, really not liking the way things are going. Ur-Devil gives some TP healing with Strongman's Glory to Korey, Axel, Fafnir, Shen, and Magnus._

"Just kind of sealed your doom by replenishing us, you ungrateful monster!" _Magnus chuckled, using his Compression skill to make his Formulas stronger as Shen strikes Ur-Devil with Frigid Slash._ "You know, for good measure..." _Ricky mumbled to herself, shooting at Ur-Devil's legs, causing them to be binded with vines._

"That way, we can spend more turns attacking the everlasting crap out of it!" _Ricky continued, as the Forest Girl beside her clasped her hands together and applauded her for the quick thought before going to strike Ur-Devil with Null thy Strength. As she lands, the sky turns blue, and Ur-Devil sent out blue energy waves, hitting Hibiki and knocking her back onto the grass._

"Hibiki!" _Korey gasped, wishing he could rush over to help her up if he wasn't distracted by Ur-Devil. Lynus rushes over to Hibiki and proceeds to start healing her. Hibiki spits out a bit of blood before wiping it off with her hand._

"You'll be alright soon, Hibiki..." _Lynus reassured, doing whatever it takes to prevent the injuries from being worse._ "This damned thing... just doesn't know... when to quit..." _Hibiki uttered, gasping in pain._

"Don't move too much, just sit still for a moment..." _Lynus continued to work his healing on the Forest Girl before him._ "Can't you two pull of a blind any faster?!" _Axel yelled, getting irritated at the Ur-Devil's constant lack of giving a shit to anyone it targets._

"We're trying, but it's resistance seems to have built up to the point where it's merely luck!" _complained Flavio._ "Got it," _Tobyn huffed, as he urged Flavio to look at Ur-Devil, seeing it is now blinded._

"Huuuuh?!" _Flavio flabbergasted, as Tobyn chuckled to himself._ "Maybe you should've focused on actually trying more, instead of complaining." _He boasted, as Flavio continues to be astonished at what happened._

"What the hell does THAT mean?!" _yelled Flavio, as Axel couldn't help but chuckle a little bit._ "I guess Tobyn has better luck than Flavio and Korey all together." _The landsknecht jested._

"Heeeey!" _complained Flavio and Korey, overhearing Axel's joke and took it rather seriously, leaving the red headed landsknecht to simply snicker to himself. Fafnir lands a few attacks with Delayed Chase. As Ur-Devil misses My Wrath, Chloe uses her Ailing Slash on Ur-Devil to deal more damage to it._

"Are we getting close to killing it yet?!" _asked a nearly exhausted Macerio._ "It's gotta be! We just need to keep it up!" _Axel reassured, starting to worry they might not make it out alive._

"I refuse to die here... Not before I reunite with my loved one!" _Korey screamed, jumping at Ur-Devil in an attempt to slash at it..._

 _Only to be stopped as Ur-Devil grabs the Highlander._

"Huh- Waaah!" _Korey was thrown by the giant abomination, focusing its Shed Thy Tears attack on him._ "Graaah!" _the Highlander yelled in pain, falling back to the ground, barely able to live within an inch of his own life._

 _Hibiki lets out a gasp, as her hands cover her mouth, before running over to the Highlander's side._ "K-Korey!"

"Oh no...!" _Lynus gasped, rushing over to the Highlander and starts healing him Korey struggles to get up, but Lynus insisted he stay down while he heals him._

"God damn it, why did thou think that would have been a good idea, Korey?!" _Hibiki questioned, nearly screaming at the top of her lungs._ "H-Hey, I d-didn't think it would," _Korey coughs mid-sentence before he continued_ "d-do that...!"

 _Macerio attempts to blindly search through his bag for more bullets._ "Shit... only one left..." _He uttered, grabbing the single remaining bullet. Ricky sighed, glaring at the remaining bullet in her hand._ "Great... this presents an issue." _She then glanced at Macerio, who looked back at her._

"What do you think we should do?" _asked Ricky, as Macerio blinked and gave her a reassuring smile._ "We'll have to make sure it stays binded." _He suggested, as the Millennium Girl blinked back in shock._

"With the last of our bullets? Why can't we just focus on dealing damage to it?" _she argued._

"It's going to break out of its leg binds soon. Better we seal off those two than worry about refilling. Besides, I have confidence that Axel will finish it off." _Macerio said with a confident look in his eye._

"And so will Korey and Fafnir..." _Ricky uttered, feeling time seemed to slow for the two of them. Without hesitation, yet somehow confident in their coordination, the Gunners stood back to back, yet set their sights on Ur-Devil. Ricky and Macerio placed their last bullet into their guns to make their final aim- Macerio aiming towards the arms, and Ricky aiming towards the legs._

"Wait for my order. We'll shoot once the leg binds fall." _Macerio whispered to the girl his back was turned to._ "Got it." _Ricky whispered back. Magnus uses his Thor Formula, and Shen follows suit with Lightning Stab. Ur-Devil shakes off the leg binds, attempting to use Dance with Lunacy._

"Now!" _Macerio commanded, as the two Gunners synchronized their shots, easily stopping the Ur-Devil from using the attempted attack._ "Bullseye." _Ricky beamed, lowering her arm as she let out a sigh of relief._

"Let's hope the others will make it in time..." _Macerio commented, glancing over to see Lynus had finished with healing Korey, helping the Highlander stand up._

"Ugh, lesson fucking learnt... don't try to pull that crap again." _Korey grunted, grabbing his weapon from Hibiki._ "For my sake, I really hope you don't... Now get back out there." _Lynus insisted, with a reassuring nod._

 _Korey nods back, before making his way back to Axel and Fafnir. Hibiki places a hand on her chest, clutching her hand as she watches him._ "Please... stay alive..." _She begged, wishing to not see him hurt again._

"Ugh... I'm getting rather tired of this shit it's trying to pull..." _Fafnir snarled, as Axel tries to catch his breath._ "It's weakened, yet it refuses to die!" _Axel concurred, wiping off the sweat on his forehead. Ur-Devil casts Shed Thy Tears again, hitting Macerio, Ricky, Tobyn, Magnus, and Chloe._

"Gyaah!"

"Gwaah!"

 _Lynus gulped, seeing what Ur-Devil was trying to do. Out damage more so he would have to split his focus on healing every single individual here._ "Ugh... I was hoping to get through this without having to break my Force, but it seems it's forcing me to do it..." _Lynus sighed to himself, before standing firm and clasped his hands together, feeling his hair and coat sway in the wind._

"Medicinal Miracle!" _yelled Lynus, as a rejuvenating wave spread itself outward to everyone, healing their injuries in the blink of an eye. Magnus and Macerio where the first to stand up, followed by Tobyn helping up the two girls._

 _Axel turns to face Lynus, sensing that he used his Force Break._ "Lynus..." _He simply smiled, silently thanking him for the thankful gift, before sensing Ur-Devil prepare an attack._

"Flavio, now!"

"Right!"

 _Flavio and Tobyn both shoot a Blind Arrow, reapplying the blind effect thanks to the duo's co-operation, as Ur-Devil screams in pain, missing its attack. Bertrand notices Hibiki trembling in fear._ "Hey, kid, you alright?"

 _Hibiki looked up to Bertrand, shaking her head._ "No... we're too late... We're never gonna make it." _She insisted, feeling despair wash all over her entire being._

 _Bertrand simply smiled._ "Heh, never say never, kid."

 _The Forest Girl blinked, upon seeing Bertrand's smile._ "What... does thou mean?"

"Watch and learn..." _He simply retorted, putting his sword away. As Korey, Axel, Magnus, Shen, and Fafnir take turns striking at it, Ur-Devil begins to laugh. Whether it was laughing in pain, or laughing at the guild's failed attempt to slay it was something that nobody could comprehend._

"Damn it... we're able to get it weakened, but I think we're out of time!" _Korey gulped._ "This definitely could've gone better had I had the thought of getting better weapons..." _Axel uttered, before Fafnir's warning snapped him back to glance at the Ur-Devil._

 _The giant abomination uses its second to last attack - Howling Winds against the five people in front of it. Korey felt something push him aside, as the Highlander caught a brief glimpse of Bertrand, taking the brunt of the attack, causing smoke to explode from where he stood. As the smoke clears, Bertrand is on his knees, using his shield as a crutch._

 _Korey and Chloe both gasp out of fear._ "No...! Trand!" _The pink haired girl yelled, quickly rushing to his side, as his eyes shifts its attention to the nearly crying girl._

"That was... more painful than I thought it would be..." _The blonde haired Protector groaned, as Hibiki stared in surprise at the nearly collapsed Protector, before coughing up a bit of blood._ "Trand...!" _gasped Chloe, who attempted to use a healing skill, but can't get it started due to her exhaustion._

"Bertrand," _Korey began._ "why did you recklessly charge in there to take the hit?! You could have DIED!" _Bertrand sighed, easily understanding the Highlander's anger._

"Ain't no sweat off my back... Besides, this old man isn't gonna kick the bucket yet..." _Bertrand reassured, as everyone turned their attention to Ur-Devil as soon as they heard it charging up. Amplify. Just like Hibiki predicted..._

"Looks like our time's up." _Fafnir lets out a sigh in defeat._ "Heh, you say that..." _Bertrand called out, as the Ronin raised an eyebrow in confusion._

"What do you mean?" _inquired Shen._ "I can... keep one Eternal Exodus at bay... but," _Bertrand coughs mid-sentence, clearing his throat shortly afterward before continuing._ "the finishing blow... must be done..."

 _Ur-Devil fires off an Eternal Exodus, preventing him from finishing his sentence._ "...Excuse me, I was trying to SPEAK here!" _Bertrand snarled, using his Force Break to protect everyone, shielding them with one last protective aura._

"Bertrand..." _Korey began, as the Protector turned to face him._ "What are you... waiting for? Finish it already!" _urged Bertrand, as he saw Fafnir transform, not wanting to have his last ditch save be in vain._

 _Shen doesn't hesitate for a second, activating his Force Boost before quickly switching to his Force Break._ "Issen!" _Shen began the finishing combo, sending a powerful ranged cut to Ur-Devil, causing it to scream in pain._

"I hope you love the pain, cause we're Full Gaining on this thing! As payback for hurting Lynus! Hiyaaaah!" _Axel shouts, charging at Ur-Devil and using his Force Break, striking at Ur-Devil's arm, with his axe going through part of its arm, making it scream even louder._

"For the sake of everyone's future! Gae Bolg!" _Korey yelled, throwing his spear at the abomination, striking it on the right side of its head, as it attempts to use its free hand to get the spear out of it._

"Fafnir! Finish it!" _Fafnir nodded at Korey's words, jumping up towards it using Korey as a bit of a boost. Axel sees Fafnir, and quickly gets off, bringing his axe with him._

"This is the end for you, ultimate life form of the Overlord! Akashic Nova!" _Fafnir's chest began glowing, as bright light busted through, sending an array of fire, ice, and volt beams at Ur-Devil, damaging it in multiple areas, as Ur-Devil screamed in absolute agony and pain, causing the exhausted fighters to gaze upon Ur-Devil._

"Looks like they did it. That giant thing is coming down!" _Macerio cheered, as the giant abomination soon falls to the ground, all movement of the life it once had now cease to exist anymore._

"We... we did it!" _Flavio celebrated, as he raised his arms to the sky and screamed their success._

 _Hibiki, mouth agape, couldn't believe the incredible victory that had happened before her very eyes. Once the same guild that defeated the Overlord, the Yggdrasil Core, and the Ur-Child, was able to slay the labyrinth's deepest darkness._ "Unbelievable..." _was all that she was able to muster, yet she found herself shedding a tear of joy._

 _Magnus runs over to Shen and gives him a hug._ "Ya see?! I told you we were gonna take him down!" _Magnus bubbled, as the Ronin chuckled in delight._ "Says the one who was worried about dying beside me mere minutes ago." _Shen argued, as the blonde Alchemist's happy demeanor quickly changed._

"Oh s-shut up!" _Shen exploded into laughter, before turning himself around and kissed the Alchemist, as his cheeks turned red, before returning the kiss back, feeling Shen placed a hand on his shoulder for support. They kept it up for a couple of seconds before ending it, as their noses touched each other, letting them gaze into each others' eyes._

"Hoo boy... that sure took a lot out of me." _Axel breathed a huge sigh of relief, seeing Fafnir back to his regular appearance._ "You can say that again. I haven't fought like that in forever..." _Korey concurred, arguably regretting being on the verge of death again._

 _Lynus makes his way over to tend to Bertrand's wounds, as Hibiki walks over to the four brave souls who took the final blow to Ur-Devil. She says nothing at first, but then gives Korey a hug._ "H-Hibiki...?" _Korey questioned, never thinking he'd see this side of Hibiki._

"I never thought I'd find myself saying this, but after what transpired here... I guess I might need a bit more guidance to being an explorer if I hope to protect those I care for." _She explained, feeling rather apologetic for not being able to do much. She felt the Highlander sigh and place a hand on her shoulder._

"It's alright, Hibiki. For your first time battling, you did put in quite an effort. That's good enough as it is." _He praised her, for even her actions helped change the tide of the battle a bit._

"Besides, it's not like we're gonna be leaving Lagaard anytime soon. You're more than welcome to join us." _Fafnir insisted, as the Forest Girl glanced at Fafnir._

"Thou... actually mean it?"

 _Fafnir nods._ "You seem to use Grimoires pretty well. You just have to have more experience with battling."

 _Hibiki gazed at the ground, trying to think about the option._ "But... what will the people of Lagaard think about me?" _She inquired._

"Don't worry about it, ma'am. Lagaard is a great place. I'm sure everyone wouldn't mind seeing you in Lagaard than be in a place that's filled with monsters." _Axel reassured as Lynus soon stood by his side._

"Took the words right out of my mouth, Axel." _He chuckle, leaving the landsknecht to scratch the back of his own head. Hibiki separates from the hug, looking at Korey and Fafnir._

"Then, it is decided. Korey, Fafnir... I, princess Hibiki, would like to join thy guild so that I may experience life outside the Yggdrasil." _She requested, bowing to the two of them. Korey and Fafnir look to each other and grew smiles on their faces, before looking back at Hibiki._

"We'd be more than happy to, Hibiki. We'll just have to deal with the paperwork before you're an official member, but welcome to the guild." _Korey beamed, which, in turn, caused the Forest Girl to smile as well- the first of many smiles to come._

 _Lynus sighed when he noticed Hibiki's smile._ "A happy smile is always a welcomed change..." _He cooed, as Axel placed his arm around Lynus, looking at her face and seeing the smile on her face._

"Considering she's got quite the past, I'm sure she'll need all the comfort she can get." _Axel noted, as Lynus simply nodded. Nobody deserves to suffer through memories of the past._

"Hey, guys, you might want to take a look at this." _Flavio interrupted everyone to look at something weird. As everyone turns to where Flavio stands and approach him, Ur-Devil had previously fell had mysteriously disappeared, and replaced with a sword stuck in the ground._

"A sword? How did it get here?" _Lynus asked, confused on why there was suddenly a sword where Ur-Devil lied._ "Was that always there?" _Tobyn queried._

"Hard to tell, considering all of us were focused on that monster the entire time..." _Ricky doubted, seeing as it was hard to know whether it was there the whole time or not._ "I doubt somebody dropped it here..." _Bertrand commented, scratching his head in confusion._

"Though I guess the question is, who gets the sword?" _Magnus wondered._ "Tough choice, considering the possibilities of it being dangerous..." _Korey pondered, as he tried thinking of suggestions. The most obvious would either be Axel or Fafnir, since they can wield swords..._

"Well, why don't you have it, Korey?" _Fafnir coaxed, causing the Highlander to face him in confusion._ "Me? But I'm a Highlander, not a-" _Fafnir places a hand on Korey's shoulder, interrupting what he was going to say._

"Look, I may not know much about your past, but somewhere within your mind, it's beckoning you to pick up a sword in combat. I believe this might just be the starting point to fixing your memory..." _Fafnir insisted._

"Y-You think so? My memory's been kind of here and there, so I can't really recall everything at once..." _Korey scratched his head, so far having found nothing in either Etria or Lagaard that would help him know where his previous guild members are._

"That's just how amnesia goes." _Fafnir sighs, knowing the truth of that ordeal._ "You gotta slowly find bits and pieces to get the full picture. Now, go on, grab that sword." _He turned Korey and pushed him forward slightly._

 _The others stare at Korey in anticipation, the Highlander goes over to the sword. Grabbing the hilt, he slowly raised the sword from the ground, as the sunlight gleamed off of its razor sharp edges, feeling tremendous power surging from simply grabbing the hilt. He glances at an engraved portion that seemed to have been etched on the blade itself._

"Ragnarok..." _Korey spoke, reading the engraved letters._ "Ragnarok?" _Magnus questioned, as the Highlander glanced at him._

"Must be the weapon's name, given the engravement on it." _He began._ "Or it could simply be someone's name. We'll never know..." _Korey glared at the sword from multiple angles, trying to get a feel for wielding a weapon he once had. Surely, his memory will eventually find the right bits and pieces._

"I never thought I'd see the day Korey wield a sword..." _Ricky hummed, as Arianna nodded her head in agreement._ "Indeed, Dame Ricky. I daresay it suits Sir Korey rather well." _She beamed, her smile giving Ricky enough motivation to smile as well._

"Believe me, that sword would probably end a lot more lives if I had it. Though I'm strong enough anyways, so he can keep that sword." _Axel commented, as Lynus turned to face the Ronin._

"So, Shen, what's next?" _He inquired, as Shen sheathed his weapon._ "Since we're done with Ur-Devil, we can report to Lady Gradriel. Of course, there's one more monster that only appears on this floor, but since this floor is connected via the Geomagnetic Pole, we can always come back later." _He continued, as he started walking to the members of the Gungnir Guild._

"Since you helped out, I'd appreciate it if you came along with me to report to Gradriel." _he insisted, as Arianna clasped her hands together._ "Why of course, Sir Shen. We'll be glad to." _Arianna beamed._

"Report to Lady Gradriel, then we get some food." _Chloe added, as the blonde Survivalist raised an eyebrow._ "Food...? At a time like this?" _He questioned, as Chloe adjusted her glasses._

"Chloe is always in the mood for food whenever she's tired." _She argued._ "But it's only-"

"I wouldn't argue with her, if I were you. She tends to be stubborn like that." _Bertrand stopped Tobyn before he can argue back._ "...Whatever you say." _Tobyn sighed, as he adjusts his scarf._

 _Korey places the sword in a sheath, placing it on him as he approaches Shen._ "Alright, let's make our way to the Duke's Palace." _Korey spoke, feeling more than relieved to head back._

"Right. Let's go." _Shen nodded, and motioned everyone to follow him back to the Geomagnetic Pole. They soon make it back to the Duke's Palace, where Gradriel patiently waited for Shen and the Gungnir Guild, as she. She glanced upon hearing the door open, seeing Shen and the Gungnir Guild enter the palace._

"Shen, Guild Gungnir... You've returned. And with members of the Guardian Guild, no less." _Gradriel welcomed, noticing some of the Guardian Guild's members enter as well._

"Well, we kind of had to give chase to Shen in order to make sure he didn't die." _Magnus clarified, as Shen approached Gradriel and bowed before her, standing up afterwards._

"Yeah, but the concern is appreciated. They did help out in defeating the creature, after all. We kind of clutched it near the end, and some of us sustained a couple of injuries, but we're all alright." _Shen explained._

"I see... It must have been quite the ordeal." _Gradriel then notices Hibiki, who hides behind Korey upon being detected, peering to the side, still seeing Gradriel from her point of view._

"Hey, there's no need to be nervous. She's friendly." _Korey slowly urged, as Hibiki slowly walked to his side, clutching his hand like a child._

"I am Princess Gradriel. Who might you be?" _Gradriel introduced herself to the Forest Girl, who took her time to introduce herself._

"...I am... Princess Hibiki... of the... Forest Folk..." _She finally introduced herself, staring at the ground soon after she finished speaking. Korey sighed, a bit annoyed, but at least he was glad that she introduced herself..._

"Sorry... She just recently joined our guild, so I'm trying to get her to feel at ease with being in Lagaard." _Korey explained, as Gradriel focused her attention on the Highlander._

"I'm sure you and Lynus will help her out in that endeavor?" _She suggested, as Lynus took a step forward._ "Well, it may be part time effort for me, considering I still work for the hospital, but I'll try my best when I have the time." _the medic admitted, as Gradriel nodded in understanding._

"I always strive to help others, my lady. Of course I'll do my best to help." _Korey concluded, as Gradriel grinned._

"Excellent. Anyways, I must apologize for diverging from the topic at hand. It is great news that this deepest darkness has been slain. On behalf of the Duchy of High Lagaard, thank you, members of Guild Gungnir and Guild Guardian." _She thanked._

"It's nothing to worry about. We're just two guilds with a similar mindset of protecting those we care about." _Macerio shrugged._ "And that's something that'll never change." _Ricky beamed, as Korey took a deep breath._

"On that note, let us NEVER face that thing again... Just once was already sweat-inducing." _He exhaled, not wanting to ever see or hear about it ever again._

"It sounds like it was quite the ordeal, then. I left your reward at the bar. Please rest well, and prepare yourselves for a new day."

"We sure will, Arianna. Have a good day~" _Arianna beamed, as the two sovereigns bowed and bid each other farewell for today, before the two guilds head on over to the bar._

"Never thought yehr guild members and the Fafnir Knight's guild would work together, eh? Yeh're always impressing me with these kinds of goals nobody ever thought to imagine." _Cass let out a hearty laugh, impressed by Shen's explanation that happened on the thirty-first floor._

"Honestly, it was the Fafnir Knight and the Highlander that helped me at my hour of need. My guild members mostly came after I snuck out of the inn." _Shen shamefully admitted._

"Chloe needs food..." _Chloe sighed, as Cass let out another hearty laugh._ "I could imagine yeh're quite hungry from that beast of a monster!" _Cass couldn't agree more, even if he never saw the monster in person._

"Yeah... We're going to head to the Arcania Cafe, as a way of winding down. Then off to get some dang sleep..." _Korey explained, giving a yawn at the end of his sentence._

"Ah yeah, that cafe of yehs. I'm not gonna complain about why you'd want a better place to sit and relax than 'ere, if I must say so myself. Yeh explorers go ahead and take a load off, and I'll be sure to find more quests for the two famous guilds to tackle together! And here, take yeh reward, Shen!" _he grabbing a bag and placing it next to Shen, as the Ronin grabbed the bag._

"Ah, thanks. I might come back later to see some other requests you may have, but maybe come with more of my guild members next time around. Take care, Cass." _Shen thanked, getting up from the chair to go meet up with the others._

"Take care, lad! You too, Highlander!" _Cass waved goodbye to the Ronin and Highlander_. "See ya." _Korey replied, bringing Chloe along with him. They arrive back to the others, who were waiting on them._

"So, what was the reward?" _Axel asked, as Shen looked into the bag._ "Just these five Over Somas... Nothing much, I'm afraid." _Shen replied, placing the bag on the table after he was done looking in it._

"But Over Somas can still be helpful in the labyrinth... Might as well be as satisfactory of a reward much like that Ragnarok sword Korey now has." _Lynus said, at least having interest in the Over Soma's. Though maybe killing a tough monster like Ur-Devil is not the greatest way to get it._

"Well, now that that's settled, is everyone ready to head on over to the cafe?" _Fafnir inquired._ "I'm just more than ready to lie in bed..." _Magnus yawned, as Shen grabbed his hand._

"There'll be plenty of time once we're done eating, Magnus. Think you can wait a while longer?" _Shen reassured, as the Alchemist couldn't help but feel warm inside._ "I'll put in an effort to try." _Magnus grinned, as Hibiki stood up from her chair._

"Let us move to the cafe, then. The noise here is starting to pester me." _Hibiki urged, as the two guilds head on over to the Arcania Cafe, and held a feast over in the cafe._

"Wooow, some of the food that's here seems so unique... Makes me wish me and Lynus would visit here more often..." _Axel said in amazement, taking a bite of the food in his hand. Lynus swallowed the food in his mouth before speaking,_ "It would be more comfortable if some of the food doesn't look like actual monsters..."

"Regardless of its appearance, the food here is simply great. No complaints here." _Shen shrugged, taking a drink after he finished speaking._ "Wame 'ere!" _Magnus concurred, his mouth full of food._

"So, how do you like it, Hibiki?" _Arianna inquired, as Hibiki swallowed the food in her mouth._ "These taste so different than the food from Yggdrasil... Not that it's bad, these are quite intriguing, but how does killing monsters justify them being tools to be used for food?" _the Forest Girl returned the question to the purple haired sovereign._

"I'm afraid some of them just seem to be part of the recipes for some of these. It'd take forever to try and explain it to you..." _Arianna explained, as Hibiki continued to eat the food set before her._

"You know, the least you could do is slow down, Korey. There's no need to rush..." _Ricky tried to get Korey to stop eating fast, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get him to slow down._

"Just let it go, Ricky. He and Chloe can eat their heart out, knowing they survived a tough battle and are able to see the light of day..." _Fafnir sighed in defeat, letting the Highlander eat to the best of his ability._

"Fair enough... Can't really blame him, though." _Ricky shrugged, averting her attention back to the food she had on her plate._

"You know, we really should work together more often. It's not often the two most famous guilds in Lagaard ever get a chance to work side by side. Even if getting Shen back was kind of the reason that brought us to that thirty-first floor... What do you think, Axel?" _Tobyn inquired, as Axel glanced at him._

"I'd be down for that, though that would all depend on Hamza, in the end. He is the guild leader, after all." _The landsknecht agreed, taking a drink of the tea he had beside him._

"We'll have to fill him in on what happened when we get back to the inn. Maybe tomorrow, though, since I feel like I'm gonna drop dead in my sleep once we get back to the inn." _Magnus noted._

 _Axel chuckled a bit._ "I feel you, Magnus. I'm gonna need some time to relax, myself." _He concurred, taking a bite into the food he has in his hand._

"Chloe, don't you think that's enough meat? You and Korey have been hogging it the entire time..." _Flavio groaned._

"Just one piece isn't going to cut it. Chloe demands more..." _Chloe said nonchalantly, bringing the piece of meat on her fork to the mouth and plopping it into her mouth, biting into the meat as she takes the fork out._

"Those two are going to be tired by the time we head back to the inn." _Bertrand commented, drinking the tea he had in his hand._ "Says the one person out of the entire guild who can go without eating for a few days..." _Flavio sighed, before grabbing a few bits of the food from their palette as he continued to eat to his heart's content._

 _Time flew by as they sat there and ate, eventually getting to the point where the sun started to set. Without delay, they headed towards the inn. Hamza looked up from a book he was reading to see Lynus, Axel, and the others come in._

"Ah, about time you guys returned. We were just about to have dinner in the lobby. Want to join?" _Hamza inquired._

"We kind of had a huge feast over at the Arcania Cafe, Hamza. We're also a tired from our battle against the deepest darkness, so we're gonna have to skip dinner for tonight." _Axel replied, feeling a yawn coming on._

"Ah, is that so?" _Hamza queried, as Fafnir took a few steps forward to speak with the War Magus._ "Yes. The good news is, everyone made it out alright, even Shen." _He explained, as he waved his arm over to Shen and Magnus, the former helping the latter stay up._

"Doesn't help that all of us are quite tired..." _Bertrand added, as Axel stretched his arms and placed some of his stuff behind the couch next to the fire place where their Beast companion, Chi-hung, before placing himself on the couch. Lynus chuckles, seeing as Axel would greatly benefit from his company._

"Well, I guess I know what I'm doing for the afternoon..." _Lynus beamed, turning to Korey and Hibiki._ "If there's ever anything I can help you with, feel free to let me or one of my guild members know. Most likely you'll want to use the latter method, depending if I have work in the hospital or not." _Lynus explained._

"Alright, Lynus, we'll be sure to do that if we have any problems." _Korey nodded alongside Hibiki._ "Please, do take care of thyself." _Hibiki bowed, making sure that the medic gets a well deserved rest._

"Heh, I will, Hibiki." _Lynus replied, turning around to head to the couch Axel was relaxing on._ "Alright, everyone... I'll see you all tomorrow, I need some sleep." _Fafnir yawned, making his way up the stairs._

"Sounds like a plan... Good night, everyone." _Arianna hummed, following the Fafnir Knight._

"Chloe will follow suit. Too tired to do anything else." _Chloe declared, taking off her hat as she began walking up the stairs._

"This old man's gonna hit the hay, too. After all, Lynus did kind of scold me for trying to protect you all like that..." _Bertrand scratched his cheek, as Korey glared at him._ "Juuust make sure you don't get on his bad side next time, Bertrand." _The Highlander snarled, as Bertrand moved him to the side so he can get to the stairs._

"Yeah, yeah, I got it... Good night." _And there goes Bertrand, out of sight the moment he made that turn. Ricky and Flavio say their good nights to everyone and headed up for their rooms._

"So... where shall I sleep?" _Hibiki inquired to the Highlander, as he placed his finger on his chin._ "There's always my room. It only has one bed, granted, but it's better than sleeping on the ground, especially if winter kicks in." _Korey began._

"There's the fireplace, but seeing as you're aren't familiar with Beasts, especially Chi-hung, that's kind of it..." _He continued, letting Hibiki ponder over her options._ "Lead me to thy room. You know Forest Folk don't appreciate fires..." _Hibiki declared, as Korey shrugged and started making his way up the stairs._

"Hold up a moment." _Hamza's voice stopped the Highlander's movement, as the Highlander turned to see some clothing material that Hamza had in his hands, handing one of them to Hibiki._ "Lynus suggested I make this hooded cloth for you, so you don't have to worry about anyone discriminating you." _Hamza explained, as the Forest Girl looked at the soft article of clothing in her hand._

 _It was a mix of green and yellow, though the mixture blended well to have a lime green appearance, being very long that one would swear it would seem like it was made for Hexers. Yet, the material reminded her of the leaves in the Petal Bridge stratum..._

"Ah... I thank thee for the humble gift." _She thanked the War Magus._ "Heh, thank Lynus for bringing it up to me. I also have something else, since you'll be needing a spare change of clothes." _Hamza then gave her something resembling a tinier version of her sovereign dress- and seemed more for casual wear, specifically for nighttime._

"Quona suggested I'd make this too. It's not too perfect looking, so I hope it works well for you." _Hamza explained the design, seeing as Hibiki was a little confused._

 _Hibiki nodded, starting to understand Hamza's explanation._ "I suppose it will be good enough for me. Be sure to tell this Quona person I thank thee for the gift." _She insisted on the War Magus to stay true to his word, instead of having to look for Quona herself. Not that Korey wanted to delay sleep over a simple thank you..._

"I sure will. You two have a good night." _Hamza nodded, letting the two continue on with heading to bed for the night._ "Right... Good night to you as well." _Korey replied, motioning Hibiki to follow him, as the Forest Girl did just that._

"Would you like for me to wait out here while you change? It usually gets to nerve wracking whenever a girl changes clothes when they're in the same room as I am..." _Korey inquired, opening the door for the Forest Girl._

"Perhaps thou should, seeing as I don't risk anything. I will let thou know when I am finished." _Hibiki responded, closing the door behind her as Korey began the waiting game._

 _Hamza starts to head for the dining hall, before he turns to see Lynus and Axel embrace each other, nose-kissing the other and giving each other kisses. How could Hamza not smile at such an adorable sight as that?_ "And thus, everything goes back to the way it was, almost as if it never happened. I wonder how much they fought up on that thirty-first floor that caused them to be so tired..." _Hamza pondered for a moment, before tabling it for a later discussion._

 _Korey gazed at his ring on his finger, seeing as he had nothing else to do while he waited. He could stare at the ring for as long as he can gaze at the engraved name the ring bore. Though as he began to stare, he began to have a thought... if he found no clues from Etria, and none from Lagaard, where was he to go from here? While this Yggdrasil had connections to the Yggdrasil Project, he'll eventually run into another Yggdrasil that will bear no connections to it._

 _It's a long game of waiting and balancing, and it's one that honestly kept him going... Not only because of his promise to his beloved, but also to the man that once attempted to kill them. With only two Yggdrasil's down, and one destroyed due to a Gladshiem mechanism, where would the remaining four Yggddrasils connected the Yggdrasil Project be?_

 _The Highlander clutched his head, feeling a headache had intervened his thought process. Though, that's what he thought that interrupted him. He felt like he was the center of attention for someone._

"...Fascinating. Never thought I'd see you here." _Korey let out a silent gasp, and turned to where the all-too familiar voice came from, seeing a man with gray hair and glasses approach the Highlander. There was no denying it..._

I _t honestly should've felt like a dream. Korey even pinched himself to make sure he wasn't dreaming._ "You know, if you tried every conceivable way to think you're not dreaming, we'd be here for hours." _The man commented, as the brown haired Highlander continued to blink, both in confusion, and in utter amazement..._

"S-Simon...?" _Korey uttered, low enough so that the Medic before him easily understood him, as the man nodded._ "I'm currently undercover for the time being, so please, whenever the other two members of the Midgard Library are around, I'd like for you to address me as 'Ryle'. Got it?" _He inquired, as the Highlander gave a silent nod._

"S-So what brings you here? I thought you, Raquna and Arthur were going back to the Midgard Library..." _Korey asked, trying to maintain the quiet tone, as he was worried Flavio or Fafnir might pick up on the conversation._

"Well," _Simon began._ "I heard that you joined up with the two rookies from the Midgard Library, and honestly, I can't believe it myself. Never would've had an inclination that we'd meet like this." _He continued, seeming to have heard rumors from the Midgard Library itself._

"I see..." _Korey mused._ "But, I won't divulge into why I'm actually here. Instead, why don't you tell me how you've been doing. Any word on your missing guild members?" _questioned Simon._

"Well, me and the others just got back from defeating this Yggdrasil's strongest creature..." _He began, taking out the notes Shen had given to him for replication purposes, and handed it off to Simon so he can look at it for himself. He simply stared at the detailed sketch of the Ur-Devil, reading the notes that were written._

"Fascinating... I assume this 'Overlord' must still be alive?" _asked Simon as he handed back the book to Korey, who shook his head, confirming the opposite of what Simon had hoped for._ "That's a story for another time." _Korey explained, placing the book back in his bag._

"As for my missing guild members... Still haven't found a thing. Turns out they weren't here, either." _Korey sighed, crossing his arms as he leaned against the wall._

"That's unfortunate... Regardless, you shouldn't give up. There might be at least someone around who can confirm at least someone from your previous guild was here." _Simon reassured, as the Highlander scoffed._

"Yeah, hopefully... If not, I'm just not quite sure where to go from here..." _Korey groaned, flicking his hair back as he continued to glance at the ring._

"Well, if I happen to find any leads, I'll be sure to let you know." _Simon patted Korey's shoulder, hoping it'd make him feel better._ "Anyways, I'm going to get some shut eye. I'm sure you must be incredibly exhausted, so I won't keep you from your sleep, unlike that other time back in Etria." _said Simon, after looking over Korey for any sign of sleep._

"Alright... But, will we see each other again?" _asked Korey, before Simon continued any further to his room._ "More than likely. Just make sure the others don't follow you when we speak in private." _he responded, before the both of them said their good nights, as the medic closed the door behind him._

"Thou can come in, now." _Hibiki's voice spoke through the door beside Korey, giving Korey a sigh of relief, as he picked up his bag and entered his room, closing the door behind him. He placed the bag next to a drawer, as he glanced over to Hibiki._

 _The Forest Girl was in the nightgown Hamza made for her, the dark blue cloth matching those found on her Sovereign dress, hairband untied and placed on the drawer, as her hair reached down to her elbows. She also had a matching pair of black knee high socks, likely wearing them ever since she wore her regular clothes. She let out a yawn as her eyes finally looked towards the Highlander's eyes._

"Who were thou speaking to, earlier?" _Hibiki questioned, catching the Highlander off guard, as he tried to find the right words to say without giving too much away._ "O-Oh, just someone I once traveled with in Etria. They're on their way to get some sleep..." _Korey tried to explain, as he placed his spear next to his bag, and started to undo some of the strands of hair._

 _The Forest Girl seemed to take it reasonably well, letting out a simple,_ "I see." _Korey honestly felt like he was speaking to a child- heck, probably one of his own child if he were to look at it from a different angle..._ "I must say, thou certainly impressed me, hearing thy motivation to keep fighting..." _Hibiki spoke as she changed the subject, showering the Highlander with a short amount of praise._

"I-It's not something I gloat about, really... It was in the heat of the moment, and I couldn't help myself to take the position as leader." _Korey chuckled, moving his hair that covered his left eye up._

"Still doesn't change the fact that thy strength is more than what I could ever accomplish." _Hibiki sighed, as Korey stopped what he was doing, and walked on over to the Forest Girl, sitting next to her and placing a hand on her shoulder._ "Don't worry about it, Hibiki. We'll get you to be strong faster than you can say peek-a-boo~"

 _Hibiki stared at him in confusion._ "Peek-a-what...?" _She repeated, hoping Korey would fill her in, as Korey sighed and shook his head._ "...N-Never mind." _He muttered, yawning after a few seconds, to which Hibiki followed suit in yawning, before lying her head on his shoulder._

 _Korey looks at her for a bit, and grows a smile on his face._ "I guess all that walking made you tired..." _He chuckled, picking her up and placing her on the right side of the bed. Although Korey was used to sleeping alone and having the bed to himself, he was going to have to get used to having someone else share the same bed with him. Strangely, it brought him a rather nostalgic deja vu..._

 _He places the sheet over Hibiki, as she turns to the side, placing her hands next to the pillow. Korey couldn't help but chuckle at how adorable she looks when she's asleep._ "She's just like a little child..." _he spoke to himself, honestly feeling like he was already a parent looking after a child._

 _The Highlander lets out a sigh, and gets himself comfortable in the bed, looking up at the ceiling._ "Hilda... If you're out there, somewhere... I pray you'll be alright..." _Korey muttered a wishful thought to himself, before getting the sheet over him, letting his eyes close as he drifts into slumber._

 _With each new day, comes the possibility of a new threat..._


End file.
